E 591 
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IGH 



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MVK DEDICATE THIS GREAT VJORK 

ON 

Makink Wakfake 

TO OUR FRIEND AND FKLL()W-( ll'I/KN, 

geor(;b w. ri(;(;s, 

Banker, CirRisTiAN, and Gentleman. 

Wk uo this as a smai.i, kktukn kou tiik many timks 
ilk has pii.otkd us throijgu storms am) thkown us a 
link whkn wk wkkk among kkkakkks. 

F. C. ADAMS. 



HIGH OLD SALTS. 



STORIES INTENDED FOR THE MARINES, 



TOLD BEFORE AN ENLI6HTEHED 

Coir}ii:|ittee of Coiigi'e^^. 



f' — ■■ — . • 

Bv F. COLBURN ADAMS. 

Author of The Siege of ll^ashington : Story of a Trooper, and other /woks. 



WASIIlNfiTON, J), r.: 

Oil. /S70. 

For Sale by all Booksellers, Price 50 Cent 
(( 'f)j)ijriii/il .sfviircil.) 






i> 



'Z 



HIGH oi,D SAi;rs. 



STORIES INTENDKl) FOR THE MARINES, BUT TOLD UE- 
FORE AN EXI.KUITENEl) COMMITTEE OF CONORESS. 



LETTER No. 1. 

All impression Imd long prevailed that Captain Cuttle 
would .s[)in no more long yarns, and that the illustrious 
Buusby was dead, and for opinions, as mere opinions, 
we should never look on the like of him again ; but it 
seems that was a mistake. The illustrious Bunsby is 
not dead ; and the corpulent Cuttle still holds a very 
high place in our great American Navy, and sj)ins long 
yarns. 

We do not claim any very i)articular credit for giving 
the above very im])ortant information to the great 
American public. Mr. Whitthorne, a very amiable 
gentleman, and famous as an explorer, who commanded 
the Teune.ssec Navy during our late unpleasantness, is 
entitled to all the credit, and should receive it. Admiral 
Whitthorne is now chairman of the Committee on Naval 
Atfairs of the House, llis mind is expansive and pen- 
etrating, and, when not under too much pressure, capa- 
ble of grasping and solving the most difficult questions 
of law, religion, and navigation. Indeed, it was the 
possession of these great qualities of brain power which 



iiialilnl liiiii to so sati.sfjutorily solve tlie great (luestion 
of Bimsby's IHo or deatli, and the fact tliat we still had 
a Cai)taiii Cuttle to spin long yarns. 

One very foggy morning, in December last, (we are 
particular about the time,) it occurred to this very 
amiable gentleman, Admiral Whitthorne, that he would 
make a thorough study of the American Navy, with a 
view to preparing himself for any maritime adventures 
he might be engaged in, in case of another unpleasant- 
ness between the North and South. Being a man of 
sprightly thought it struck him that the best and shortest 
way of accomplishing this gi'eat purpose was to consult 
the Navy Register and send all the high old admirals, 
commodores, captains, and commanders a confidential 
circular letter, inviting them to give their opinions con- 
cerning the present condition of the great American 
Navy, and what should be done to imjirove it and make 
it terrible in the eyes of the world. 

Sailors, whether admirals or boatjjiwains, are not 
famous as philosophers. They are, indeed, generally 
accepted as a queer combination of the comic and ro- 
mantic. And if there is any one thing they like to en- 
gage in more than another it is what is vulgarly called 
gabbling. And, too, they are profuse of opinions on all 
sorts of subjects. We have known a very high old ad- 
miral who could beat all the authors and editors in the 
country consuming foolscap and letter paper, and yet, 
remarkable as it may seem, he would say less than any 
gentleman within the sco]>e of our accpiaintanoe. Sailors 
are also proverbial grumblers. They will Hnd subjects 
tt) gnnnble over when, ajiparently, none exist. The 



l)resent Admiral of tlie American Navy is a very forcc- 
ablo example of tlie triitli of what we say ; aud it is doing 
him no injustice to m\d that he can, within a given time, 
write more and longer letters than any gentleman of our 
acquaintance. We wish we could say they contained 
real information equal to their number and length. 

Responses to Admiral Whitthorne's confidential cir- 
cular letter came thick and fast ; so fast, indeed, tlfat he 
began to fancy himself the fool who stood wondering 
at his own folly. In short, his letter was a temptation 
to gabble no first-class mariner could resist. It was the 
sailor's golden opportunity, and he end)raced it. In less 
than two weeks Admiral Whitthoj-ne found himself re- 
solved in a village post-office, and the happy possessor 
of not les» than three bushel baskets full of opinions 
concerning the Navy, and what should be done with it. 
There were long opinions and short opinions — the short 
ones being decidedly the best. The longest ones came 
chiefly from the oldest and best paid admirals and com- 
modores on the retired list, and are proof that there are 
men in the world who can devote themselves exclusively 
to grumbling and writing on subjects they know nothing 
whatever about. 

The authors of many of these letters, it is evident, 
never expected to see them in print. Indeed, it was 
cruel of Admiral Whitthorne to make them public, 
when they were only intended to be read in private — or 
to the marines. By giving them to the public he not 
only exposes the authors to ridicule but afibrds amuse- 
ment for the unthinking, which is a very serious oflTense 
against good manners and ordinary morals. 



6 

Being published and given to the public we suggest 
that these letters be preserved, and called "Curiosities of 
Naval Literature, by OtHcers of ih.- Cnnt American 
Navy." 

Looking at his three bushels ol ojjinions, Admiral 
Whitthorne now felt satisfied that he had the means of 
knowing all about the great American Navy. Oi' course 
lie had. But he overlooked the fact that these very 
letters contained the best proofs that Navy oflicers are 
proverbial grumblers, brave perhaps, but impractical, 
obstinate in a.sserting their opinions, unprogressive, and 
stubbornly oppo.sed to what they consider innovations. 
A well-known French author has said navy officers were 
good enough fellows as sailors, but very dangerous as 
diplomats. These peculiar traits of char.icter are by 
no means limited to the Anierican Navy. They prevail 
to a much greater extent in the English and French 
navies, especially among the older officers. 

Outside of a charity hospital for old maids there is 
no place where you can get such a diversity of opinions 
on any one subject as among officers of the Navy. 
One will know exactly how to sail a ship, build a ship, 
sjmr a ship, rig a shi{); but he will ditter with all his 
brother officers in regard to the best method of handling 
a ship in liattle. Another will give you opinions by the 
yard, not alone concerning the handling of a ship, but 
on steam engineering and naval construction. The old< i 
tlie admiral or commodore, the more resolute he will bi- 
in (h'fVindinghis claim to superior knowledge on all tiiese 
subjects. If, htjwever, you would satisfy yourself that 
this fine old admiral or commodore knew just nothing at 



all about steam euginecring or naval construetion, you 
liavc only to put him before the blackboard for iifteen 
minutes ami he will demonstrate his ineapaeity to your 
entire satisfaetion. You would find thai not one in ten 
of (hem I'Oidd explain the dilirri'iicc lielwct'U a coiu- 
ponnd and what is known as a sim[)l(^-type engiiii'. 

Handling- a ship at sea, lighting a ship in action, and 
maneuvering a squadron, constitute a profession distinct 
and vet co-ordinate with tlie })r()f('ssioiis of steam engi- 
neeiing and naval construction. Flencc! it is in the 
highest degree essential to success that all these profes- 
sions should work in perfect harmony. Hut instead 
of harmony, the h'tters we have referred to contain the 
most positive proof that the ofHcers re})resenting one of 
these professions are continually exerting their influence 
to belittle the character and destroy the usefulness of 
the others. They are all professions in which the best 
minds and bravest soids the country possessed have been 
engaged i'or the greatest good. These petty jealousies we 
see cropping out everywhere should be discouraged by 
every othcer who values the true interests of the service 
and exerts his energies to jiromote it. The line, how- 
ever, arrays itself in contimial conlliet with the staff on 
the simple and, to the generous minded, very frivolous 
(piestion of relative rank and social position, as if the 
fair name of the great American Navy (le|)('nde(l solciv 
on rank and social inequality ; indeed, that the efficiency 
of the Navy can only be maintained by Congress giving 
ihe line oftieers a monopoly of rank and social j)osition. 
The sentiments contained in many of the.se letters 
carry one's mind back an hundred yi^ars, to the days of 



8 

Nelson, and tuniljle-sidcd and top-lianipered line of bat- 
tle ships, and sevt'ntv-f()ur.s, before steam engineering 
was applied to na\'igation. We are for going forward, 
not l)ack\vard. A very remarkable featni'e of this con- 
troversy is tliat the line rontines its animosity chiefly to 
the engineer corps, forgetting that if raidc has elevated 
and improved one branch of the service — which it con- 
fessedly has — their own branch of the service shonld also 
be a gainer by it. Indeed, it is for these gentlemen of 
the line to say how far they will take advantage of the 
opportunity it affords them of elevating their own 
branch of the service. We can easily understand how 
I'elative rank may have disturbed the ancient notions 
of dignity entertained by some of our fine old gold-em- 
broidered and cock-hatted admirals and commodores on 
finding themselves on an ecjual footing at a dinner table 
with engineers, doctors and paymasters. But, then, this 
is not only a progressive but a practical age ; and even 
so important a thing as rank must give way to its de- 
mauds. 

T]:.ST1.'\U>XV CAI-Ct'LATKl) TO MISI.KAD. 

Asailor's motto is that when you have spun a long yarn, 
no matter how absurd it may be, you must assert that every 
word of it is true, and fight the man who disputes it. 
This motto seems to have been followed somewhat too 
closely for the interests of truth by Admiral Porter and 
others, as shown by their testimony before the Naval 
Committee of the House during the last session of Con- 
gress. 

We purpose to show how very unreliable and calcu- 



9 

hi ted to mislead some of thi-s te.sliniouy was; and in 
doing so we sluill confine ovnsclf to such witnesses as 
were accepted by the Coniiuittce as in every way com- 
petent and free from selfish motives. And we shall 
begin by quoting from 

A modi: I, [j;tti:u 

from our genial little friend (Jonimodorc Jefters, Chief 
of the Bureau of Oi-dnance. This remarkable letter is 
of the gold-embroidered type, addressed to Admiral 
Whitthorne, and may be found in Miss. Doc. 170, part 
8, page 05. 

" I think," siiys tin: genial litll<' commodore, " tbe provi- 
sion of law whioli gives six years' precedence! to statl' ofBcers 
in counting length of service in relative rank, prejudicial to 
the 1>est interests of the service, and it should be rei)ealed." 

There is no mistaking an opinion like that, or that it 
came from the quarter-deck. Now, for an opinion as 
is au opinion concerning the marines. Here we must 
say that a sailor's opinion of tlu^ marines is always in- 
teresting : 

'• I am also of opinion tliat no t'lirtlier appointments should 
he made in the Marine Corp-; ; hut that a line olticiu- [lino 
otlicer mind you] shall he detailed to command the mai'ine, 
guard on hoard ship, as he now coniman<ls the gun division." 

The ])resent organization, except the field and staff, 
he would have transferred " to the army for absorp- 
tion." It troubles us to know what u^e he would put the 
field and staff to. However, as he proposes the cheap- 
est mode we have yet seen of disposing of the mai'ines, 
the officers of that corps will undoubtedly appreciate it. 



10 

Our genial little friend, it will be observed, reserves 
his heftiest blows for the. Engineer Corps. He turns his 
pen into a eutlass, and strikes right and left indiscrinii- 
uately. This is Opinion No, "A, and has chunks of wis- 
dora in it. 

" Tlu; present organization of tlie cngineei-.s is excei^dingly 
faulty. Originally mere practical enginc-di'ivers they have 
passed beyond that, and Without having, as a body, the scien- 
tific education of the line [Think of that!] the}' hav(^ ceased 
to be practical mechanics." 

We confess our inability to clearly understand by the 
above what the little Commodore is driving at. Perhaps 
the following sentence will shed more light upon it : 

" It is useless to over-educate these people. The })resent en- 
gineers are eminently a dissatisfied and discontented body ; due 
to the disparity between their duties and their aspirations. 
They .should be reduced at least one half; and a subsidjfi'y 
corps (?) of mechanicians engaged simply to run the engines, 
occupying, to the one .scientific engineer on board, the same 
relation that the boatswains and gunners do to the line. * * * 
It is not desirable to use razors to cut blocks." 

Certainly not. But tin' keener the edge of your ap- 
propriate instrument the (piicker you would cut and 
linish your block. This is what Mr. Bunsby would call 
one of his chock-up, first-cla.ss opinions. It must, in- 
deed, have been very sad for a fine old gold-embroidered 
line ofhcer to see a mere engineer, a fellow of c(nil and 
oil, ambitious of rank and acquiring a good education. 
Marry! but there was danger of the fellow knowing 
more than the Commodore. 

" It is useless to over-educate these peojile, ••■ ••■ * Ji is 
not desirable to use razors to cut blocks." — Captuin W. N. 
Jeffera^ Cliief of the Bureau of Ordnance. 



11 

Tliore is a (lavor of the fine old i'eudal Ijaron, walled 
ii|) ill his castle, aud condesocudiuo; to speak oi'his luen- 
at-anns, about this, that, at the present day, is more 
amusing than instriietive. Knowing the genial little 
Commodore to be something of a joker we at first mis- 
took this for an attempt to make Admiral AViiitthorue 
and bis (\)mniittee the victims of a joke. Indeed, it 
did not seem possible that in this age of progress, of 
education, of development in our mechanic arts, and of 
scientific advancement generally, an intelligent Ameri- 
can, much less a genlleman placed at the head of the 
Bureau of ( )rdnauce for his suj)i)osed scientific attain- 
ments, could be found to advance the idea that you 
could over-educate any class of mechanics or artisans, 
more especially steam engineers. 

We very soon discovered, however, that the little 
Commodore did not intend what he said as a joke, but 
that he was treating his subject in the most solemn 
manner possible. We all know what the art schools of 
iMiglaud and France have done to educate their mechan- 
ics and improve their mechanic arts. Had it not been 
for our own educated mechanics our mechanic arts would 
not to-day have reached that high standard of develop- 
ment Americans have so much reason to be proud of. 
Skilled labor is the oHspring of genius refined and im- 
proved by education : and many of the best minds of 
Europe, as well as this country, have been devoted to its 
advancciiieiit. This ajjjilit's with particular force to 
steam engiiieei-ing. And yet we are told by the highest 
scientific authority the American Navy is supposed to 
possess that it is useless to over-educate our engineers. 



12 

We would siigu-ost to our genial little friend that in the 
hands of a sailor a inarlin-spike is less dangerous than 
a i)cn, and that before he writes any more letters on rela- 
tive rank and over-educating engineers, [these peoi)le,] 
he pay a visit to Machinery Hall at the Centennial and 
spend a week studying its wonders in raechanisni. By 
doing that he would certainly make himself better ac- 
quainted with the value of educating the mechanic. 

You cannot overeducate the man you place in charge 
of a steam engine on board of a ship, and on w^hose 
judgment and skill a thousand valuable lives, to say 
nothing of propeity, may depend. Nearly all the terri- 
ble disasters and loss of life we have had to record from 
explosions, were the result of ignorance and carelessness 
combined. 

" It is not (li-sirahle to use rivzors to cut blocks." 

Of course not. 8till it is tlie belief of Admiral Por- 
ter, and other high authorities, that all the hei'oism of the 
American ISTavy belongs exclusively to the line in gen- 
eral and Admiral l*orter in particular. We can under- 
stand how dangerous it would be to put our hund)le opin- 
ion against such high authority. And yet our theory has 
been, and still is, that heroism is not a thing you can 
well monopolize, but belongs to whoever merits it. As 
the perxonnei of our navy is now constituted, tlie engi- 
neer who stands unfiinchiiigly at his post during the 
storm of battle, obeying every order and directing every 
movement of the ship, tlie failure of any one of which 
may prove fatal, is as much entitled to credit for hero- 
ism as the officer who directs the battle from the foretop 



13 

(ir (|iiiirtf'r-(lcck. In r^liort, tlic ongiiioev lias simply 
(•li:mg('(l places with (he old-time sailing iiiasLcr. 

An engineer's })ositi(in on boaid one of our monitors 
in time of action is even more dangerous than that of the 
officer in the lookout. He does not, it is true, belong to 
that branch of the service which absorbs all the rewards 
and carries oif all the laurels, nor is he brought so 
prominently before the public. 

In the first naval action iluring the war, between the 
^Fonitor and the jNIerrimac, in Hampton Roads, Engineer 
Alban ('. Stimers, who had sui>erinlended the con- 
struction of the Monitor in New York, was on board 
during the fight, worked the tvirret, and was conspic- 
uous for his coolness and gallantry, and rendered very 
important service after the injury to Captain Worden. 
And yet Stimers' name was hardly mentioned in con- 
nection with the fight. Worden carried off all the 
laurels and all the rewards. Stimers ajjpreciated Worden 
and was not the man to claim any share of the rewards 
for himself. 

We may err in ti'cating this renuirkable letter of our 
genial little friend so seriously. While reading it, and 
pondering over it, and thinking what a stning(> frame 
of mind the author must have l)een in when he wrote 
it, we were forcibly reminded of a story AVashing- 
ton Irving used to tell in his inimitable way of a nunt- 
ber of worthy old Dutchmen who lived in j)eac(> and 
l)rosperity on the banks of the Tapj)an Zee. These 
worthy old burghers were interested in certain sloops, 
which monopolized all the cai-rying trade between New 
York and the Tappan Zee. Hearing that one Mr. Ful- 



14 

ton, being in no fear of the devil, and with the evil in- 
tention of destroying the business of the sloops, had 
constructed a ship of frightful ap})earance, as big as 
two sloops, and to run up and down the river on wheels, 
no matter which way the wind blew, and to carry a big 
tea-kettle in her bottom — greatly alarmed at what they 
fancied to be impending ruin, these worthy Dutchmen 
called a midnight meeting in the little church by the 
hillside, near what is now called Tarrytown ; and then, 
by the aid of a tallow candle, deliberated until nearly 
daylight as to the best means of snuffing out this Mr. 
Fulton and his mischievous project. It was rumored 
about that the Claremout would make her first trip up 
the river on the following day ; thereupon it was finally 
resolved that Peter Yon Ketchum, (very likely the 
W'Orthy ancestor of Commissioner Ketchum of this 
city,) one of their number, who stood six feet seven 
inches in his boots, and was famous along the banks of 
the Tappan Zee lor his great strength, should, on the ap- 
pearance of this Mr. Fulton's ship, go down into the 
river with a big boathook, and in that way stop her 
progress. Peter did what he was ordered ; but there 
was a funeral a few days after, attended by all the 
worthy old Dutchmen in the village. It was Peter Von 
Ketchura's funeral. His friends shed any number of 
tears for him, and said hv was a brave man. 

Many years have rolled by since we heard Irving 
repeat this simple story of the old Dutchman and his 
boathook to his friends. The i:)hilosophy of this simple 
stoiy may afford the genial little Commodore an ex- 
cellent subject for study. 



15 



LETTER No. 2. 

To^tiiiioiiy given witli the best of iiiteulious luid by 
the purest of persous may not at all times express the 
exact truth. Indeed, its tendency may, and too fre- 
(juently does, mislead as to facts. Even the best of tes- 
timony, liable to misconstruction as it is, should be 
\vei>i;h(Ml witli extreme care lest innocent persons suffer 
by it. 

An otHcer of the Government, holding an high and 
important ])osition in one of its branches, when called 
before a Committee of Congress to testify as an expert, 
should be extremely careful that what he testifies to is 
based on facts within his own knowledge. Mis aim should 
be to instruct, not mislead a committtje. We say this 
because the testimony of Commander Mead and others, 
given recently before the Committee investigating naval 
affairs, was of a character to entirely mislead the Com- 
mittee, and through it the public. Let us take the most 
charitable view of this subject. Mr. .Mead is one of 
those chronic grumblers we have before referred to • 
and is never happy except when he gets a pen in his 
hand and a ream of foolscap before him. Thus armed 
and provided he will make the fiercest of tvar on llichavd 
Mead and the King's English. On land Kichard never 
is without a war; at sea he will quarrel over his duff; 
and yet his greatest misfortune is that he never thor- 
oughly understands what he writes altout or makes war 
upon. 

Tiie. most conspicuous case of a gentleman being nns- 



IG 

led as to his facts and testifying in a inauiu'r wliicli 
nuist have givciv the Coniinittoc and the ])nhli(' a very 
erroneous in)pi'ession, may l)e ibund in llu! testimony 
of our amiable little Irieiid Commodori' detlers, on com- 
pound engines. 

Rising at the head of the Committee's table, and with 
an air that plainly said, lookout for a broadside of 
opinions as are opinions, the little Commodore first cap- 
tured a number of large and small inkstands, with which 
lie proceeded to enlighten the Committee on the pressure 
in compound boilers. He had not procnieded far when 
it became evident that he had not only surprised but 
captivated several members of the Conunittee with the 
depth and extent of his knowledge of the subject he 
was using their inkstands to illustrate. To be sure, il 
was a novel way of explaining a great subject, but the 
Committee was wide-awake and took the meat of it 
all in at a glance. 

The little Commodore had given the inkstands a rest 
of a few moments. He now picked up the largest one 
and held it menacingly before the eyes of the wondering 
Whitthorne, and Willis, and jNLills, and Harris. Hav- 
ing satisfied these gentlemen that the inkstand was- ])ei- 
fectly harmless, he proLCCtled : 

"Gentlemen, let us suppose tli is inkstand represents a com- 
pound boiler ; and all boilers of compound engine- hold ex- 
actly two hundred and fifty ('250) cubic feet of water. Now. 
as exactly sixty (GO) pounds per square inch of steam is usrd 
in these boilers they are very liable to explode." 

Yes, gentlemen of the Committee, exjdode. Jusl al 
this moment the delineator let the inkstand dro[), send 



17 

iiig tlu- (oiiimiUce iiilo a slate of alarm. Admiral 
Whitthorne winki'd both liis eyes in rapid siiccos-sioii ! 
Mr. ]Nrill;j oast furtive tihuiee.s at the door; Mr. Willis 
rail his iiiigers iiervoiislv over his bright hald head ; and 
Mr. Harris looked more than usually solemn. 

I'^ear ol' heiug exploded by this villainous iuveiitioii, 
the eom])ound boiler, was what was troubliug the little 
Commodore. If ordered on sea duty he would sleep 
more tranquil of nights over an old tasliioned type of 
boiler, with eighteen or twenty pounds of steam on. 
Tlis alarm increased as hv proceeded : 

" Now ;i eiiLic fiK)t of wator licutcd to a ti'iaperature due to 
sixty ])ouiuls of pi'essiire is oqiail to a pound of gunjiowder " 
[(iunpowdor, mind you !] " in the way of ('X|)lo.siv(' niateriul. 
I i<no\v tliis, i;('ntlenien, bcciui.se I iiave read it." 

That the little Commodore knew what he said because 
he had " read it " must have inipresse'd the Committee 
with the importance of testimony based on the mere 
statement of a man's knowing a thing to be truebecau.se 
be had read it somewdiere. We have read Kichard Mead 
on Naval (Construction, and yet we would not like to swear 
by Kichard Mead as a shipbuilder. After the pause of 
a moment he again raised the inkstand, in a menacing 
manner. " Gentlemen of the Committer" exclaimed the 
little Commodore, " overhaul your intellectual depart- 
ment, bring the sun down to your horizon, and give me 
your nautical attention, and I will show you what a 
devilish invention these eompouiid eugin(!s are." The 
little Commodore was evidently waring and hauling in 
a thick fog. Holding the inkstand horizontally he pro- 
ceeded to exi)lain what would be the result if the water 



18 

got too hot iu the iiiksttind — supposing it to be a coni- 
pouud boiler — and should explode. Here the Commit- 
tee again became so alarmed that the lively Willis and 
solemn Harris left the room, and Admiral Whitthorne 
snapped his eyes in ra[)id succession. 

" The boiler of a comixxind engine, gentlemen, is more apt 
to explode than the boiler of a simple engine." 

There was a blue look al)out the eyes of what tliere 
was left of the Committee. 

" Proceed in order," interposed A.dmiral Whitthorne, " but 
please put the inkstand down. These explosions are verj- 
dangerous." 

Here again is where the wisdom that astonished this 
enlightened Committee comes in : 

'•On going into aeti<in with a simple engine j'ou blow the 
steam off the boilers until it is just above the atmospheric 
pressure (?), so that if a shot should strike the boiler" [Up 
went the inkstand again] " there is no pressure to hurt you." 

The Committee took comfort from this, and resumed 
its usual serenity. The difference between one's being 
blown to atoms by a simple or compound engine was a 
matter of great importance with the little Commodore. 
It was so much easier to die by steam of alow pressure. 

" But if you get a shot" [Shot, mind you] "into one of 
these compound boilers "■ — 

Here he paused for a moment to regain confidence, 
and was about saying, gentlemen of the Committee, you 
would all go to tluit place where your best friend keeps 
open house. But he refrained, out of consideration for 
Admiral Whitthorne's feelings. 



I!) 

'' Bill, I i'ciH'iit, " 111' n'siuiH'd, " if you get a shot into one ul' 
thi'sc oompoiiiul boilers it will 1)0 (■([uivalont to oxploding two 
himdrod and lll'ty pounds of i;uiipowd('r at that jtoiiit ; and, 
gentlomen, yon nil know, or ont;lit to know, wiiat would thru 
take plaee.'' 

]Mr. Willis, luivinu; recovered from his alarm, re- 
entered the room. And just then the little ('ommodore 
let the hig iidcstand iall again, and in a trice every 
mend)er ol' the Committee was^on his feel. 

Xow, let us compare these statements of our genial 
little friend, whosesupfjosed scientific attainments secured 
him a place at the head of the Bureau of Ordnance, 
with well-established facts, and see what they amount 
to. The force of the explosion of a boiler and that of 
gunpowder are simple matters of calculation, and are 
well known. We will lake up the coinj)t)und engine 
first. 

We are informed on the very best authority that 
there are ailoat to-day no less than sixteen of our ships 
of war, fitted with compound engines. Of these there 
are twelve with boilers so small that each one holds only 
one hundred and five (lOo) cubic feet of water, instead 
of two hundred and fii'ty (250) as Commodore Jeffers 
asserts, and swears to. His innocence, we will not say 
ignorance, of the subject he was attempting to explain 
was more forcibly illustrated in what he says about low- 
ering the pressure of steam on going into action. He 
ought to know, if he does not, that instead of lowering 
the pressure of steam on going into action, it is always 
raised. Let us take the famous fight between the Kear- 
sarge and Alabama. The pressure in the boilers of the 



20 

Kciirsargc tlic hour prei^cding the fight is rcconk'd uu 
the log at twelve pounds ; during the fight it is recorded 
ut twenty pounds ; and during the next preceding run 
at sea the average was only sixteen pounds. This will 
prove that during the action it was 25 per cent, higher 
than when steaming at sea. lu short, th(> steam pres- 
sure was nearly doubled as soon as the Alabama came 
out of Cherbourg. 

Again : In the attack on TNIobile there was a picssure 
of lo pounds in the boilers of Admiral Farragut's flag- 
ship, while the mean running pressure at sea for the 
next preceding passage was only IU.7 pounds. In all 
cases of action, and in some cases of degc, the boiler 
pressure has been increased. Commodore Jeffers cannot 
produce the record of any of our ships going into a 
fight without the maxiuuira pressure, or nearly so, in i\w 
boilers. Accept his theory that in going into action, 
with a simple or any other engine, " you blow the steam 
off the boilers until it is just above the atmospheric 
pressure," and whal l)ecomes of your powci- to nunueu- 
vre ? 

On the western rivers, during the war, vessels, with 
simple or non-condensing en(/hie-'<, went into action fre- 
quently w'ith more than one hundred (lOO) pounds pres- 
sure in their boilers. The reason for this increase of 
pressure on going into action will readily be seen. It 
enables you to work the engines with greater power, and 
ensures quicker movements, slionld they become neces- 
sarv. 



21 



The (:r/il(>-<i(i». of (/idipinvdcr cont/tarcd irit/i iJint of aldgli- 
j)rrssin-(j boifcr of thr. Adams class ami a low-prcssnre 
of the Kcaraanje class. 

It will be geuerally udinitted that the Kearsurgo is one 
of the most successful of th(^ very low-pressure gunboats 
afloat. She has two nuiiu boilers; one containing seven 
furnaces, the other six. The large one holds, when 
steaming, 48, 60S pounds of water and (at 20 pounds 
pressure) 75.1 pounds avoirdupois of steam. The 
smaller main boiler holds 42. 5.32 ]x>unds of water, and 
60 pounds weight of steam. The l)oilei-s of the Kear- 
-arge extended two feet above the water line, while the 
boilers of the Adams, a vessel of the same size, are en- 
tirely below the water line. The calculation we give 
below is for the maximum possible dynamic effect, and 
is api)lied rigorously to both cases. It is also made for 
one boiler, as suggested by ('ommodore Jeffers. 



Kkaksakge. 

Larf/r Small 

Jini/rr. Jioilcr. 

I'ressure (P) in lbs. per s(|. in. •, 

above tlie atmosphere! 20 20 

Temperature (T) of steam and of I 

water dne to tliat presnre I'lid. I' 260.1" 

AVeiglit ( W) of water in tlie boi- 
ler", in lbs. avoirdupois lS,(iOS 12,5:12 

\Veight;")of steam in the boiler, 
in ibs. avoirduiJols 75.1 GO. 

Total heat (II) in the stcaiu, in, 
degrees Fahrenheit 1,1!«.;»' 1,119.3H" 

Total heat (H'j in steam, at al- 1 

mospheric pressure i 1,178.6" I 1,178.0° 



One Boiler. 

00 
.311.2' 
0,720 
12.1 

1,208.S50" 
1,178.0° 



There would be on the release of the pressure a defi- 
nite quantity of water evaporized, which would in turn 



22 

iiugniciit the explosion. We will now suppose a shot to 
have pierced the boiler, aud the water thus vaporized 
to have the same dynamic effect as the pre-existing 
steam, and also that the total force of the explosion be 
expended in lifting vertically upward a vessel of 1,000 
tons displacement ; and we will further suppose that all 
the heat available in each case will be utilized. 

The heat lost by the water, in the boiler, on its release 
of pressure, will be measuix-d by the expression T' — 212, 
and the quantity of water vaporized w'ould be measured 
by the expression — 

VV(T-212) 

966.1 ^ ^'^ 

And to this we must add the weight of steam (w) already 
in the boiler, making Q, -\- w. In equation (1) W = 
tlie weight of thp water in the boilef, and 966.1 the 
number of thermal units necessary to vaporize one 
pound of Avater. 

The range of temperature between the total heat in 
steam at T' degrees and that at the atmospheric pressure 
is — 

11 — H^ = h (2) 

And the height to which 1,000 tons would be projected 
will be measured by the equation — 

772 X (Q + w) X h __ 

i,uoox^,^4o ^'; 

Substituting the numerical values for the letters in 

equation (3) we have — 

Large boiler of the Kearsarge S -: 12.89 feet. 

Small boiler of the Kearsarge S = 11.28 feet. 

Boiler of the Adams 7.32 feet. 



-y?. 



But .•^upjHtsing llu; boiler of one of our coinpoiiml 
eiigiaes shou/d hold 2~)0 cubic feet of water, and that a 
pressure of (50 pounds should be used, as ^[r. .letters has 
sworn. Tlu'ii the height to which 1,000 tons would be 
lifted would be, from (Hpiation (3,) 

1.000 X ^,--10 

While the total heat of the combustion of 250 pounds 

of gunpowder would rai.se the same weight just 61.7 

,. . 01. 7 o - i^- 1-1 

teet, or --— ■ ,].i times as hn;h. 

From ( ieneral liodman's ex[)(!riineiits he found that 
the complete combustion of cannon powder, burned in 
its own volume, gave a pressure of 185,000 })ouuds per 
.square inch. He burned 10 j)ounds of cannon powder 
in an iron cylinder o.S-) inches in diameter by 72 inches 
in height, which was just the volume of 10 pounds of 
{lowder, and which gave him \\\v. result. 

The space occupied by 250 pounds of cannon [)ovvtler 
is a cylinder of los inches base l)y 54.84 inches in 
height. Taking the pressure deduced by Rodman, viz., 
1 '^5,000 pounds per square inch, (he pressure on the 
base of l')i inches is 2,520,G25 pounds, and the total 
dynamic eft'ect of the whole cylinder is l-')8, 281,075 
pounds, and this divided by 2,240,000 pounds will give 
(he number of feet through which 1,000 tons can be 
moved by that pressure, viz., 61.7 feet. 

This is the maximum possible dynamic effect, (>xactlv 
as in the case of the boilers. 

Here is a gentleman, Head of the I>ui-eau of Naval 
< )rdnance, and in hi^•h staiidini'- anion "• (he line olH- 



24 

cers, who actuully doea uot kuow the relative lifting 
power of guupowder and steam. He shows himself to 
be alike ignorant of the merits of compound engines ; 
and yet he astonishes a wliole Committee of Congress 
with his knowledge of the sii])eriority (?) of the old or 
simple type of engine over the compound. Of the 
twenty-odd oflicers of the line who recently undertook 
to enlighten the C^ommittee on Naval Affairs of the 
House on the demerits of compound engines, scarcely 
one of them showed that he knew the first j)riuciple of 
their working. This did not reflect much credit on 
the jjersonnel of the navy. Navy officers, as a rule, 
forget that establislied facts drive theories to the wall. 

Now, your average Congressman is proverbially 
stupid. He comes to Washington fresh from his rural 
district, with a very limited knowledge of literature, 
art, science, or natural philosophy, much less naval 
matters and engiueei'ing. His whole stock in trade 
consists of an im})erfect knowledge of the political history 
of his State, an inordinate ambition to serve his con- 
stituents, personally or otherwise, and make too a little 
reputation for himself. He is happy if he can get on an 
investigating comnuttee, for that afiords him a new and 
enlarged field for the object of his ambition. If there 
is any one thing he needs more than another it is to be 
instructed correctly by officeis like Admiral Porter and 
Commodore -leffers, who stand before the country at the 
head of their profession. Instead of this, wehaveboth these 
high officials doing all in their power to excite i)rejudi(H' 
against the Navy generally, to belittle its force, and to 
mislead the Committee, and through it create erroneous 
impressions in the minds of the peojjle. 



Tlie isimple t'acL i.<, the ('oiiipoiiiKl eiigiiu- is \vorkiii<;- a 
ivvolutioii ill steam eiigiuoeriujj, just as the first intvo- 
(liit'tiou ot" steam worked a revolution in navigation, 
and again, as the serew worked a revolution over the 
side wheel. All these, considered as innovations at the 
time but now acknowledged as triumphs of skill and 
perseverance, were persistently opposed and their utter 
failure predicted by just such high authorities as Ad- 
miral D. D. Porter and Commodore Jetfers. We re- 
member how persistently a fine old British Admiral, 
commanding the North American squadron, nearly 
half a century ago, predicted that neither the " Royal 
William," then in Halifax harbor, nor the "Savannah" 
would ever get across the Atlantic, " ivlth ivheeh." He 
demonstrated the whole thing, and brought his scieutific 
knowledge in to aid him, just as Admiral Porter and 
Commodore Jeffers did recently. His astonishment 
may be easily imagined when the news reached him that 
both ships had crossed the Atlantic in safety, and that the 
Royal William had used " her Avheels " all the voyage. 
Lardner turned out no better as a prophet ; and we 
all know what a mean way he took to excuse his blun- 
ders. The opposition to the screw was even more per- 
sistent. High scientific authorities of the Porter and 
Jetfers non-progressive type, told us exactly how such 
a weighty encumbrance at the stern of a ship would be 
sure to work her destruction during the fii'st heavy sea; 
that no sternpost could be made strong enough to stand 
the strain. The slightest accident to the Sarah Sands, 
the first ocean steamer to adopt it that we know of, was 
caught up and heralded over the country as proof posi- 

"4 



26 

tive that the screw uevev could be a success. Imper- 
fect as the machinery on board of the Sarah Sands was, 
she in the end proved a success as an ocean steamer, 
notwithstanding the many impediments thrown in her 
way by gentlemen of high scientific attainments. The 
screw was not a perfect piece of machinery at first. It 
had to be improved, like every new invention. But no 
sensible man will to-day be foolish enough to say it is 
not an acknowledged triumph in ocean navigation. The 
same may be said of the compound engine. It is work- 
ing another revolution in steam engineering. The 
high scientific authorities of England and France have 
already ceased their opposition to it, and theii- best 
practical engineers have acknowledged its merits and 
adojDted it. There may still be some imperfections about 
it. Minor improvements may be needed and our work- 
ing engineers made more thoroughly acquainted with its 
details, but the day is not far distant when it will be ac- 
cepted as the greatest achievement of steam engineering. 



27 



LETTER No. 3. 

The future historian of our kite war will have two 
very difficult tasks to perform — oue in siftiug truth from 
falsehood as it appears in official records ; the other iu 
giving Admiral D. D. Porter his proper place among 
the heroes of the conflict. We say this without any 
disparagement to Admiral Porter as a brave officer. He 
will, however, find in the Admiral a character very 
unevenly balanced, and one of the most difficult to 
analyze correctly. He has at times reminded us of one 
of those strange characters we read of in Italian history, 
who live entirely within themselves and for themselves) 
who are never so happy as when they are making mis- 
chief; whose life is a continual struggle to elevate 
themselves by pulling other and better men down, and 
with whom truth and justice arc not things worth being 
loyal to. 

Admiral Porter's mind seems to be in a state of con- 
tinual alarm. He looks at the American Navy with 
weeping eyes and through clouded glasses, tells us it is 
certainly going to the dogs, and that we Avould certainly 
get whipped in a contest with even a fifth-rate power. This 
chronic fear of being whipped by any three-ship mari- 
time power is not creditable to the Admiral pei'sonally 
or to the reputation our Navy has earned for itself 
abroad. What we obj(;ct to most is not that the Ad- 
miral should indulge his fears, but that he shall yearly 
parade them before the nations of Europe. We would 
rather charge this to a mistaken ambition than to moral 
cowardice. Still, as it does the Navy a great injustice, 



28 

and implies a censure on its personnel as well as its ma- 
terial, the bad eifects are even more damaging than if 
they were simply the offspring of moral cowardice. 

The Admiral's testimony before the Naval Committee 
is instructive if not interesting reading. It is very evi- 
dent that Porter Avas uppermost in Porter's mind when 
Porter gave that testimony. And we have come to the 
conclusion, after carefully reading it, that there is only 
one man in the United States who knows all about the 
American Navy, or who can make it comuuiud the 
respect of the world, and his name is D. D. Porter. 
We say this with due respect for his modesty. Admiral 
Whitthorne and the Committee, we are happy to say, 
shared his opinion and reported accordingly. We cannot 
help saying that had the Committee made charitable 
allowance for a weakened brain and a very disordered 
liver the interests of trull i and right would have been 
better served. 

Let us listen for a few minutes to what this high old 
Admiral told the Committee, and in the most solemn 
manner, about "the deplorable condition of our Navy." 

"Our Navy, taken as a whole, is worth nothing; and the 
sooner the country understands that fact the better." 

" It would require a groat stretch of credulity to make one 
believe that the Navy is in the flourishing condition repre- 
sented by Chief Constructor Hanscom in his late report to the 
Honorable Secretary of the Navy. Probably he believes what 
he says, ' that the power of our iron-clads for harbor and coast 
defense, where the fighting will be done in smooth water, must 
be considered equal, if not superior, to that of a large number 
of sea-going iron-clads of other nations; and that no officer 
in command of one of our monitors would hesitate to ens^airo 



29 

in action, in smooth water, any .sea-going iron-clad yet afloat, 
cxcej)t perhaps a few of the latest type.' " 

Again, we see how fear of our Navy getting wliii)pe(l 
by .some insignificant power distresses our Admiral. 
This sort of stuff is not creditable to its author, either 
as a man of generous impulses or sound judgment. He 
never did like Chief Naval Constructor Hanscom ; if 
we are rightly informed, the dislike is mutual. Hans- 
com has no very profound respect for rank, and in more 
than one instance, in appearing before so great an Ad- 
miral failed to make a salute according to the regula- 
tions. And, too, he was given to smiling, as Admiral 
Whitthorne is to winking, aud on two occasions (two, 
mind you,) actually a2)peared in the presence of this 
awful Admiral with a smile on his face, when he should 
have been intensely solemn. Hence this clashing be- 
tween the Admiral's pen and the Constructor's broad- 
axe. 

Again, Admiral Poi'ter says : 

" Our (itlicers, as has been proved, are ready to do battle, 
even with the mo.-t desperate odds ; but 1 do not believe there 
is anyone who would engage one of the ships alluded to, in 
smooth water or otherwise, unless he wanted to throw his own 
vessel away." 

These are fair specimens of the testimony given by 
the Admiral, and received as gospel. That our Navy 
is not equal to England's in heavy iron-clads will be 
conceded. But every unprejudiced man who thoroughly 
under.stands the subject will admit that our Navy is in 
a better condition to-day than it ever was before, and 
instead of beinu- worsted in a contest with a lifth-rate 



30 

power, as the Admiral would have us believe, it could 
in niuety days be put in a condition to cope with some 
of the first-rate powers. Before we get through we 
shall give facts and figures enough to satisfy any un- 
biased mind that what we say is true. 

He says millions of dollars have been squandered, 
and the American Navy ruined. Perhaps millions 
have been squandered. We will admit that there has 
been too much of what is called Cattellism in the Navy ; 
but in the matter of S(|uaQderiug millions, if we can 
judge from experience, we should say Porterism would 
not be an improvement. A great Navy is a great and 
very costly luxury ; and, organized as ours is, can only be 
kept up at great cost. If Admiral Porter wants to see 
squandering done on a grand scale he must visit p]ng- 
land's dockyards. 

And what is Admiral Porter's cure for all the ills he 
would have the country believe the Navy has been 
afflicted with since he lost control of it? A Board of 
Admiralty. He was too modest to say, a Board of 
Admiralty with Admiral Porter at its head. We have 
a very vivid recollection of this veiy same Admiral in 
the role of Secretary of the Navy, Board of Admiralty, 
and the Department generally. And yet he was not a 
success, nor was he happy. Innocent pei'sous at a dis- 
tance sincerely believed jioor old Mr. Borie was at least 
Secretary of the Navy. That was a mistake. Borie 
was only chief clerk to Porter. And it was Porter who 
spent, or rather squandered, nearly forty millions of 
dollars in less than two years, and succeeded in making 
the Navy ridiculous. There is no other name for it. He 



caunot point us to one good ship built or rebuilt during 
his illustrious reign of two years in the Navy Depart- 
ment. We can point him to a number of disgraceful 
failures. He squandered more money on useless and 
frivolous experiments, and issued more absurd and 
ridiculous orders than was done by the Navy Depart- 
ment before or since. And he was made unhappy, and 
has been unhappy ever since, because his career of mis- 
chief was cut short. 

A man whose mind is continuously balancing between 
his ambition and his avarice, who is happy only when 
he is elevating himself»at the expense of others, is not a 
safe person either to confide in or trust with power. 
Avarice did we say ? The Admiral tells us further on 
in his testimony : 

" Question. Since you \vi\ tin- J)((i)iirtin(Mil I suppose you 
liave no personal knowledge of the niiuincr in wliieh things 
lire done there ? 

"Answer. None ut all. I have not been insitht the building 
four times in six years." 

According to thijj candiil admission the Admiral is a 
costly nonentity. He has nothing whatever to do but 
grumble and consume foolscap, and yet he draws double 
the pay of a Cabinet Minister. This, to say the least, 
is an inconsistency no republican Government should 
tolerate, and Congress should at once correct. The Ad- 
miral is known to be a man of wealth, the result of 
prize money made during the war. He neither enter- 
tains, nor gives for charity's sake. And yet, no sooner 
had Hecretaiy Robeson published his mischievous Order 
No. 21 B, putting officers of the Navy on furlough — or 



32 

rather, starvatitni — j)ay, than the Admiral rose to the 
surface witli tears in his eyes, and appealed to the Presi- 
dent to make him an exception ; in other words to save 
his pocket and relieve his conscience. He was, perhaps, 
less affected by tliat mischievous order than any other 
officer of the Navy, for it still left him the pay of a 
Cabinet officer, and more than that of a member of 
Congress, while officers who had served in the Navy 
nearly as long as the Admiral had their pay reduced to 
fourteen hundred dollars, or thereabouts. They did not 
go to the President with their grievances? They did 
not peddle their hardships among aiewspaper men. 

We remember Admiral Porter at Fort Fisher. It has 
always been a matter of doubt with us which played 
the more conspicuous part in the history of the taking 
of that fort, the redoubtable Butler or the boastful Por- 
ter. Butler, deeming discretion the better part of valor, 
adopted the Chinese method of blowing up a fort by 
exploding a powdei'-boat near shore, and keeping at a 
safe distance himself Porter thought he could improve 
on Butler's method by sLo; ming the fort with pen and 
ink. Here is a specimen of his style of action : 

[Private. J 

North A'il.vx'jic Squadkon, 

{' . S. Flagshh' " Malvern," 

Cave Fear Kivek, Ja7i. 24:th, 1865. 
My Dear Sir : I received your kind letter of the ITlh inst. 
and thank you warmly for the confidence you reposed in my 
opinion that this place could be taken. 

To the Navy Department alone is tlie country- indebted lor 
the capture of this rebel stronghold, for had it not been for 
your perseverance in keeping this fleet here and your constant 
propositions made to the Army, notliing would liave been 



38 

done. As it was, after the proposition iiad bi'cn received, and 
General Grant promised that troops should bo sent, it was not 
done until General Butler eonsented to let the matter go on, 
and when he hoped to reaji some little credit from the explosion 
of the powder-boat. Now the countrj' gives General Grant 
the credit of inaugurating the expedition, when on both occa- 
sions he permitted it to go improperly provided. In the lirst 
place, it had neither head nor tail as far the Army was con- 
cerned. In the second place, ho (Grant) sent too few men, 
when he ought to have calculated that the rebels would have 
more strongly defended the works after seeing what a narrow 
escape they had. Nothing but the most desperate fighting and 
a determination to win on the part of the Army gave us the 
victory. The gallant band of sailors who fearlessly went on 
to the works, amidst a shower of canister and bullets, drew the 
enemy's attention away from the a.«sault on the land side, and 
enabled the troops to obtain a sojcurc footing. I don't say this 
to detract from the gallantry of the soldiers, for never did men 
fight harder or more handsomely than did our troops on that 
day. 

Now that the most important ])art on tlu; coast has been 
gained, as usual you will hear but little of what the Navy did, 
and no doubt efforts will be made again to show that the work 
was " not substantially injured as a defensive work." To 
General Grant, who is always willing to take the credit when 
anything is done, and equally ready to lay the blame of the 
failure on the Navy when a failure takes place, I feel under 
no obligations for receiving and allowing a report to bespread 
from his headquarters that there were three days when the 
Navy miglit have operated and did not. lie knows about as 
much about it as he did when ho wrote to me saying that 
the " only way in which the place could be taken was by run- 
ning the ships past the batteries," showing <ividently that ho 
had not studied the hj-drography of Cape Fear River, and did 
not know the virtue there was in our wood(Mi walls when 
they went in for a fair stand-up light. Any fort in rebiddom 
5 



can bo taken if we can only get within reach of it. 1 have 
served with the Lieutenant General before, where I never 
worked so hard in my life to make a man succeed as I did for 
him. You will scarcely notice in his reports that the Navy 
did him any service, when without the help it has given him 
all the way through ho would never have been Lieutenant 
General. lie wants magnanimity, like most officers of the 
Army, and is so avaricious as regards fame that he will never, 
if he can help it, do justice to our department. When the 
rebels write the history of this war, then and only then will 
the country bo made to feel what the Navy has done. I do 
not feel at all kindly towards General Grant for the indiffer- 
ence he displayed in this matter, until he found his own repu- 
tation at stake, then ho was glad to throw the elephant over- 
board that had weighed him down so heavily. He could not 
help but know that General Butler was going in command of 
this expedition — the matter was constantly discussed with him. 
He knew that ho had placed himself, and all his numerous 
staff on board the Hagship "Ben DeFord," and everybody 
spoke of him as commander of the troops. 

In a conversation with General Grant I expressly told him 
that I wanted nothing to do with General Butler, and he 
promised me faithfully that he should not have any connection 
with the expedition. Two months I waited, the fleet i-eady to 
sail at an hour's notice, and I acquiesced in the Lieutenant 
General's decision that he could not spare troops for fear of 
endangering the defenses in his front. I said then "the expe- 
dition will never go until Butler has a finger in the p)ie,"and, 
sure enough, when Butler said go we wont. The fear of weak- 
ening the defenses disappeared on Butler's presenting his plan 
of blowing the forts down, and an array was shipped so quick 
(unprepared) on the transports that they almost sailed in the 
middle of a heavy gale. General Grant knew that 1 did not 
care a fig for the powder-boat, though I was very willing to 
try it as an experiment, but not disposed to trust to it alto- 
gether. 1 think it was most unhandsome in him to listen for 



a moment to the idle talk of Butler's stall", and his timid, eal- 
culatin^• engineer, Comstock, who wanted some excuse for not 
doing their duty. The Lieutenant General and I were to- 
gether eighteen months before Vieksburg, He never had to 
wait for me, nor did any of his generals, (but I have had to 
wait for them,) and he should have supposed from the past, 
and my anxiety to go to work, that I had not become any 
slower in my movements than I was on the Mississippi ; his 
course proves to me that he would sacrifice liis best friend 
rather than let any odium fall upon Lieutenant General Grant. 
He will take to himself all the credit of this move, now that 
it is successful, when he deserves all the blame for the first 
failure to take the place. All this now is saddled on General 
Butler, and history will tell nothing of General Grant's share 
in it. I tell it to you for your own personal satisfaction, that 
you may know and feel that you are entitled to the entire 
credit for getting this expedition off, and for its success. I am 
merely the agent, and only used to advantage the ample means 
placed at ni}' disposal, which anyone else could have done as 
well as I. I expect you sometimes think I am a little too im- 
politic in what I say, but that is my nature ; I am always 
ready to fight right away, if anyone reflects upon the Navy. 
1 know that no country under .the sun ever rai.sed a Navy as 
you hav(! done in the same space of time, and that no Navy 
ever did more. Could the Navy operate in James Kiver, 
Richmond would now be ours. Vieksburg, a stronger place, 
fell when the Navy was brought to bear on it. Every place 
has fallen where Naval cannon have been brought into play. 

Our success here lias been beyond my most sanguine expecta- 
tions. I knew we would have Caswell in less than a month, 
but I had no idea that the rebels would blow that and other 
works up so soon and leave us sole possession. I am uneasy 
now for fear the enemy may turn all their force this way, and 
throw 40,000 men on to this peninsula. They would re-take 
Fort Fisher, even with the gunboats we have here, and turn 
the guns of the fort on us. The object is a great one, and if I 



36 

was General of their forces I would do it at all hazards. Yet 
this is not a pet place witli the Lieutenant General, and he 
leaves it with about 7,000 men, and I don't think knows much 
of the situation. 

An Army man thinks if he has a gunboat at his back he is 
all safe, but this is one case where at times the gunboats are 
driven off by bad weather, and those inside cannot co-operate 
effectively. I have given you a long letter, but find an apol- 
ogy for myself in the fact that I know your whole heart is in 
the Navy, and that everything concerning it interests you. 
Again permit me to thank you kindly for the confidence you 
have always placed in me, and the opportunities you have 
given me for distinction, and assuring you that it has been mj^ 
warmest wish to merit only your a))probation, I remain re- 
spectfully and sinc(^rely, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Sgd) David D. Pouter. 

Hon. Gideon Welles, 

Secretai-y of the Navy, Washington, D. C. 

The reader will see I, me, I, me, I, David Porter, all 
through this remarkable letter. There is also a very 
large amount of what old-fashioned people would call 
soft-soap in this letter, intended, doubtless, for Mr. 
Gideon Welles' personal use, but entirely wasted. In- 
deed, Mr. Welles was not the man to encourage Mephi- 
stophilism in the Navy, or anywhere else. Estimating 
this private and very confidential letter at its full value, 
Mr. Welles ordcTed it placed on the files of the Depart- 
ment. 

A careful reading of this remarkable letter will dis- 
cover the fact that the Admiral has first-class skill as a 
portrait painter. Seen in the misty distance we have a 
clever outline^ drawinii' of the redoubtable Butler and 



his i'ainuus powdor-hoat. The portrait of" Grant, as seen 
by the light of (U'veh)])nients since he became President, 
could scarcely be improved. As to that of the Admiral 
himself it is admirable as a likeness and a work of art. 
(3u one very important matter the Admiral leaves us 
in doubt. It has been charged that the redoubtable 
Butler's powder-boat was a part of l*orter's fleet, and 
that the plan of frightening the rebels into good be- 
havior by exploding that moustroeity was the joint in- 
vention of D. D. P. and B. F. B. The Admiral should 
have settled that cpiestion; then his letter would have 
been a model of naval literature. 



LETTER No. 4. 

Our attention lias recently been called to Chief Con- 
structor rianscom's reply to Admiral Porter on the 
(juestion of the efficiency of the American Navy, and 
us the Constructor backs up his statements with figures 
and fiicts, we prefer taking a reserve position and letting 
him speak through this letter. Restless always, and 
nothing if not malignant, the venerable Admiral, it will 
be remembered, leveled his heftiest pen blows at the 
Chief Constructor, who retaliates, figuratively speaking, 
with a broad-axe. It is evident that the Constructor 
knew his timber, and kept on cutting and hewing until 
there was not enough of the venerable Admiral left to 
make a hatch combing. Indeed, we have in this reply 
positive proof that so vulgar a tool as the broad-axe may 
be mightier than the sword. We must confess it grieves 
us to see an Admiral, of such magnificent pay and pre- 
tensions, disposed of in this common-place way. Hear 
what the Constructor says : 

comr.vkatlvk condition, k k1''ici kncy, \c., ok tiik navy. 

Navy Dki'artmknt, 
BuKKAU OF Construction and Hepair. 
(iKNTi.EMEN : Siiice obtainini^j permission to submit a state- 
uu'iit in reply to Commander R. W. Meade's paper laid before 
the Naval Committee as evidence against the Navy Depart- 
ment and Bureau of Construction and Repair, I have read his 
evidence, and also that of Admiral T). D. Rort(>r, and hcj;- leave 
ti> niakt! a reply more in detail than at tiiat time I had pro- 
posed to do. When an officer of a government, holding the 
high rank of an admiral, standing at the head of a navy of a 
large commercial nation like the United States, makes a state- 



40 

moiit to the Naval Committee of Congress u{)on the Construc- 
tion and Kepair Department of tlie Navy, it is expected that 
it will bo made with great care, be reliable as to facts, and 
carry with it sufficient importance to be i-eceived with marked 
attention and careful consideration. 

But it is to be regretted that the statements of the Admiral, 
and also of Commander Meade, (for in many respects they are 
alike,) are so far from the truth and so unreliable (as will be 
shown hereafter) that the whole must be thrown aside as un- 
worthy of consideration by those who have a practical know- 
ledge of the subject. To those unacquainted with naval con- 
struction and repair, their statements would appear of great 
importance, and hence the necessity of noticing them in detail ; 
and as the Admiral takes upon himself the important duty of 
directing what laws should be passed to re-organize the Navy, 
and carry into eflPect changes in the naval system, based upon 
his statement, it is but a duty to the country, to Congress, and 
the honorable Naval Committee, that his statements should 
be carefully compared with well-known facts touching the case, 
and the errors pointed out. 

It will bo noticed that Commander Meade has added to the 
list of vessels which was given to the Hon. Secretary of the 
Navy, in the report of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, 
in November, 1875, his own estimate of the condition of those 
vessels. What that estimate or opinion is worth, coming from 
an officer who has no practical knowledge of the work of ship- 
building or repairing, is left to the consideration of the Honor- 
able Committee, but to a naval construeior it would not be of 
the least value, or receive a moment's attention. 

He says of the Alert, an iron vessel of the smitU class 
" liimsily built;" when the sizes or s])ecifications are ten per 
cent, larger than those used in the same class of vessels of the 
British Navy, and the tost ofj_the materials shows that they are 
ten per cent, stronger. 

Some of the vesels which ho says are rotten, or half rotten. 



41 

nvv ^oiiuil and in i^'ood cunditinn, ami tlic speed ol' not one;, ns 
given by liimself, is correel as a maxitnuni speed at sea. 

Admiral Porter gives the following to tlie House jSTavul CVmi- 
mittee (Mis. Doc. No. 5) as a peace establislimiMit for the 
United States, and his estimated cost for the same, which will 
be demonstrated farther on to be far below the cost of the same 
classes of vessels in England, provided that thev arc built in 
accordance with what he says on page 414, Misce'.ian'ous Evi- 
dence, before the Naval Committee: "Third: to build up a 
navj', commence with most approved models of the most 
invulnerable vessels now built or building in tlic British 
Navy." 



42 



Estimate]) Cost. 





- 




■ >i-3 C 




<o>,'-J 








o a; > 












a T^ O 

»a5 




ited 

bles 

to 








5 -Pi 




.= ■^^2 




be-— 1 




lis a 




o 


20 Iron-clad monitors of greatest power, to be 




also rams for home defense, 4,000 tons each, 




to be built in 12 years 


.528,000,000 


12 iron ships of greatest speed, larger than In- 


constant class, British navy, 5,000 tons each, 


18,000,000 


* 12 live-oak or composite ships of great speed, 


■ 


Volage class, British navy, 3,000 tons each... 


10,000,000 


20 wooden ships of great speed, 1,700 tons each. 


10,200,000 


10 wooden ships of great speed, 800 tons each, 


.-5,840,000 


10 torpedo vessels, iron, ."iOO tons each 


2,550,000 




72..590.000 






* "Bacchante," 2,029 tons. 






an iron vessel cased with 






wood, as is the case with 






the Volage, approaches the 


Each 


8:«,33;i 


above class much nearer 


12 vessels 


10,000,000 


in tonnage than theVolago, 




1 


therefore the cost is also 






given in connection. 







4:^ 



AS A Pkace Estahlishmknt. 



r ^ ce :; -^ 
5-^=^3 5 

5 ceo'— 

$(U,4G!I,5S0 

21,12i),8.i2 

14,087,028 
15,35^1,820 
5,703 120 
4,500.000 


Lowest possible price for which this 
class of vessels could be built in this 
«» country, comi)lete for service, from 
•e- c: ^ 5 ~ ?- careful estimates made outside the 
"oc ii o ii V. jj naval service; taking into consid- 
>- S o o « — ; eration tin; gieat difference in price 
2 S "^ "i; 'r:^ = of labor, length of day's labor, iVc, 
o o S o — = also judging from lowest bids otter- 
ed recently for naval ship- building 


125,844,400 


130,72:3,880 


1,400,000 
10,848,000 


1,560,000 
18,720,000 



<r - 

V, be 

°.2 
to"". 

oS 
»} Mq 

ffl C o 

g c - 
^ o ^ 

c c a 



Kach £512,210 

20 vessels 10,21 1,!)20 

Eacdi 355,547 

12 vessels 4,020,504 

Kach 201,770 

12 vessels 2,1.57.312 

Kach 127,057 

20 vessels 2,5.')0,140 

Kach 50 408 

10 vessels 950,528 

10 torpedo ves- 
sels t"20,000 

£22,198.398 



Kach £234,000 

12 vessels 2,808,000 



t Cost in England in pounds sterling is approximated for tlie 
torpedo-boats. 



44 

The Drcatlnoiiglit jind Iiillexiblc arc just about completed, 
and are the results of the experience and experiments of the 
Enjvlish for the past twelve years, and they are the latest of their 
monitors " of greatest power," with most approved models 
nov) huilt or " building in the British Navy ;" and each cost as 
per official reports coming direct from the Chief Constructor 
of the British Navy, Mr. Barnaby, as follows, for those items 
under his cognizance : 

Contract for hull £iO],()0() 

Contract for engines J2()'750 

Kstimatcd cost of (4) four 81-ton guns on board CO',000 

Incidentals for completing vessel ready for service, rig- 
ging, outfit. &c 02,400 

041.150 
Add 20 per cent, for difference between labor at 10 instead 
of 8 hours per day, diflerence between flrst-ciass skilled 
labor, which in England (the Admiral says, in Mis. Doc, 
page 407. is 32 per cent, less than iji the United States) 
averages 5 shillings, or S1.25 gold per day of 10 hours, and 
in this country averages S.'> currency per day of 8 hours, 
and dillcrence in value in currency and gold, &c., (the 
Admiral's estim.ate at 20 tier cent. Is very low; he says, 
in his evidence on ]5;ige 425, that vessels cost 20 per cent, 
more in this country than in England,) a careful exami- 
nation will show th.it the total increase on the first cost 
of vessels between England and this countrvon account 
of the above items would he over 50 per coit, instead of 
20 per cent., the increase in the price of labor alone be- 
ing over 100 per cent., and this item enters into the cost 
of a vessel lan average in all classes) to the extent of 
about one-half the sum total of the cost of the hull and 
machinery 128,830 

772,980 
5 

Cost in currency 83,864,900 

This class are 5,030 tons ; one of 4,000 tons would cost pro- 
portionally less, in the same ratio that the tonnage is less ; 
therefore — 

5.030 tons : 4,000 tons :: S3,8(M,900 : 83,073,479, cost in U. S. currency. 
Number proposed of this class... 20 



Cost of the 20 in the table 61,409,580 instead of $28,000,000. 

The Admiral proposes to build (12) twelve 5,000-ton iron 
ships of the Inconstant type, but larger by 934 tons at a cost of 
$1,500,000 each ; the following is the English statement of the 
Inconstant class, and a vessel of 934 tons greater capacity pro- 
portionally more. 



liicdiix/ini/ (Vo.v.v. 

Coiifract lor hull alone Ci:!S,()()(i 

("ontracl for oiifriiios 7l,7'i!i 

Kstiinatod cost of arinainent and accessories .'il,()UO 

Incidentals, eoninleting vessels for service, ri<j;iiiiii;-, out- 
fit, &c 29,128 

272,8fi7 
Add 20 per cent, for difference in cost of labor, difference 
in lensth of day's labor, and diflerencc in value of gold 
and United States currency, etc 54,573 

a27,liO 
5 

C(>stof tlie Inconstant in the United .States, currency $1,087,200 

•l.OCf! tons: 5.000 tons:: 81,637,200: S2,0I3,2,S0, cost in U. S. currency. 
Number of vessels proposed 12 

Cost of the 12 in the table 21,159,300 instead of $18,000,000. 

The next on the list arc " 12 live-oak or composite ships, of 
great speed, of the Volage class, British Navy, to bo of 3,000 
tons each." 

As the Volage is of only 2,322 tons, and those of the United 
States arc to be of 3,000 tons, (678 tons larger,) it is supposed, 
of course, that the Admiral knows that the cost of the larger 
vessel will bo more than that of the smaller in the ratio that 
the tonnage is greater. Therefore, we will give the English 
official statement of the co.st of the Yolagc, and determine from 
that the cost of a vessel G78 tons larger. 

Volage, 2,322 fans. 

Contract for liull £8-1,775 

Contract for engines 41,37() 

Incidentals for completing vessel lor service, rigging, out- 
fit, &c 15,138 

Armament, fixtures, &c 17,2u8 

158,1!)7 
Add 20 p(;r cent, for difference in price of labor, length of 
da.v"s work, gold and United States cnrrenc.v, *c 31,099 



190,191) 



Cost in United States currency S950,980 

2.322 tons : 3,000 tons :: $950,980 : §1,228,050, cost in U. S. currency. 
Number of vessels proposed 12 

Total cost of 12 vessels 14,713,872, instead of $10,000,000, 

as stated in the table. 



46 

Tho IJuccliantc, 2,079 tons, is buflt in tlio same manner as 
the Volage, and approaches much nearer in tonnage to those 
proposed by the Admiral than the Volage, besides carrying a 
much heavier batlery ; therefore her cost is also givim in con- 
nection with the above. 

JlacclKOitc , 2,(!79 lons!. 

C'on tract for hull 1 109,200 

( 'ontract for enj^incs 71,000 

lucldciilals, estimated cost of, to complete vessel for ser- 
vice, rigging, outfit, &c 3(;,?00 

Armament and fixtures 17,000 

Cost in pounds sterling (gold) in England 2.SI.000 

Add 20 per cent, for difference in price of labor, &c 40 SOO 

280 800 
5 

Cost in United States in currency SI, 404,000 

It will be seen that the Admiral gives the cost of 12 vessels 
of the Volage type, but each to be 934 tons larger, $10,000,000, 
or $83o,383 each, in United States currency, while by the 
aliDvi! it will be stsen, by English official statements, that the 
liacchante, of 2,079 tons, a composite vessel of the type he 
proposes, but of 321 tons less capacity than his table states, cost 
the English Government £234,000, or $1,170,000 in gold, and, 
adding 20 per cent, as per the Admiral's statement on page 425, 
Mis. Doc, (" We can build a ship of the kind of the Inconstant 
almost as cheaply as it can be built in England, with a differ- 
ence of perhaps 20 per cent., if jiroperly attended to, but not 
in tho present sy.stem,") the cost will amount to $1,455,000 
under the United States, 

To sum it up in a few words, the Admiral propo.ses to build 
in this country (by the aid of this board of navy commissioners 
of " the highest ranks ") a 3,000 ton composite vessel complete 
for $33G,GG7 (in United States currency) less than the British 
Government has paid in gold to build in England one of the 
same type of only 2,679 tons, or, accepting the Admiral's own 
allowance of 20 per cent, as the amount, the total cost in this 
country would exceed that in England, the above would be 
$GG1,g"g7. 



Tlio next i>ii the list arc '20 WDudcii sliijis of i;;'L'at .sjiced, uf 

J, 700 tons. There are no vessels buildin2; of this size and class 

in the English navy, but the nearest approach to thorn is the 

Turquoise, Sapphire, &c. , of about the same class, but of less 

tonnage, runnini;- from l,;!l)5to 1,405 tons. 

'/'iir(/iioi.ii', I)/ .^O^i /oils /"xs. 

Contrart for hull C.^)!»,()00 

t'outract lor engines 2.5,()00 

Incidentals, csiimated cost of, to complete vessel readv for 

service, rigging, outfit, Ac '. 10,800 

Armament and fixtures I0,2(;0 

105,000 
Add 20 per cent, for diderence in price of labor, in number 
of hours of day's work, gold and U. 8. currency, &(:... 21 000 

120,000 
5 

Cost of vessel of l,.Sy5 ton.s in United Statis currency |6;i0,000 

1,395 tons : l.TOO ions : : S(i30.000 to $767,741, cost iu U.S. curren'y. 
No. of vessels proposed of 1,700 toiis 20 

§15,354,820, instead of *lO.'<00,000, 
as per statement. 

The new vessels of the Pelican and Cormorant class will 

corresj)ond nearly to the proposed 800-ton vessels, but slightly 

less in tonnage. 

Conti-act for hull t37,0()0 

Contract for enirines 11,100 

Incidentals, estimated cost of, to C(jmplete vessel ready 

for service, riijging. outfit, *c S.f'US 

.'\rmament and accessories 5 2('() 

50 lOS 
Add 20 per cent, for ditterencc in labor, Icngtii of da.v's 
work, gold and United .States currency, &c 11 Sj^I 

71,289 
5 

< "ost of vcsspl in linilcd Slates ciirrcncj- S356,I45 

Number of vessels i)ro|)osed 16 

Total costof 1(1 vessels of relican class, instead of «3,S4O,O0O, 
as per his statement $5,703,120 

Lastly come ten torpedo vessels, of 300 tons. As we are un- 
able to find any English data for anj' of this class, it would 
seem correct to take the Alarm of our own service as a crite- 
rion in regard to co.st. Congress aiipropriated $000,000 for the 



48 

building- of two torpedo houts, wlikdi would be $;JOU,000 for 
ono. 

The records of the Navy Deiiiirtiiiotit will show 'Xiiciidituri'S 
on the Alarm as follows : 

Construction ilopartnicnt, liiill, fixtures, Ac I2.S1 052 8;^ 

Enjiincs 120.031 17 

Armament and inciilentals to complete vessel ready lor 
service ' s^ 000 oo 

J -5 101 00 
Since which tliert; has l)cen exi)cnded on liri' in altcra- 
lions and repairs 11,0<W 75 

Making a lotnl ol 4<)i),170 75 

Therefore as the Alarm, of 801 tons, under the designs and 
sole supervision of the proposed hoiid of the board of commis- 
sioners, cost $485,104, it is deemed safe to consider that, under 
the same management, (even with the expciience gained,) the 
cost of building t(in vessels of the same class and tonnage 
could not be reduced more than $35,104. TuUing $450,000 as 
the cost of each, would make the total for the ten boats 
$4,500,000 inslcad of $2,550,000, the amount given in the 
table. 

ApnroiniafK)!! Knslisli navy for l.S7()-'77, gold S")() Ifl.oGO 

Ai)iiroprialion I^'iciieli navy for lS7()-"77, jiold :U 1;)(1,000 

Ai)i)r()priation (i(>nnan navy for 187(l-'77, i^old i(>,i 00,000 

Proposed api)ropriut ion Unit d States navy for 1876-'77.. 12,5u0,000 

Napier & Sons state that the actual cost of the last vessels 
built by them for the English Government was over 8 [icr cent, 
more than the contract price. 

Admiral Porter gives the following erroneous statements to 
the Naval Committee as the estimates for the English Navy fur 
1871 : 

Construction c«8 3^3,050 

Steam department 1,010,805 

Eciuipmenl department ,.... i 80OJ0O 

A mere glance at the accompanying papers, (marked A, B, 
C, which are copied exactly) with the exception of adding a 
column for dollars) from the accountant-general's report to 
rarliament, (official copies of which can be shown if desired,) 



40 

will show how litllo doiH-ndonec can hi' |iUu'cd iiiinn tli«! al)ovo 
statement. 

The facts in the case are simply those, (and th(» Admiral is 
correct when he says that their annual expenditures arc (juite 
regular in amount from year to year,) that for several years 
the English appropriation for naval purposes has varied from 
$51,000,000 to over $50,000,000 in gold ; and again, taking the 
Admiral's statement (on page 425, Miscellaneous Evidence) 
that it costs 20 per cent, more to huild ships in this country 
than in England, (which is a very low estimate,) on account 
of diflcrence between 8 and 10 hours for a day's hibor, the 
diftorenee in the price of labor and material, and the difference 
between gold and United States currency, &c., it would make 
these estimates (adding 20 ]iorcent.) come up to and vary from 
$61,300,000 and $77,250,000 annually. And it will be seen 
that about one-third of this immense sum is fur the depart- 
ments of construction, steam-engineering, ecpiipment, and yards 
and docks, thus giving to these departments combined from 
$21,000,000 to $24,000,000 annually, instead of the small sum 
given in his statement. It will be noticed in tabh' (' that for 
187G the amount appropriated for the building up and repair- 
ing the Navy was as follows : 

Gohl. 

Steam machinery and sliips by contract S(i,7(i8,000 

New work to steam machinery and r(?pairs to same 2,SI6,2-15 

Wases of mechanics, all departnient.s (),(ilS,750 

Naval stores, forbuildins^, repairs and outfits (j,;>0(),(!00 

22,r,:!i),.5!l.j 
Add 20 per cent, ^as per the Aduiii-al's statement, iiam- 
125) for cost of same in the United States 1,507,91!) 

27,047,51-1 
This sum, as will be seen by the otHcial statement, which is 
a part of the same paper, (C,) is for the building, repairing, 
and outfits of a total force of 248 vessels, many of which arci 
coal-hulks and storeships, of which only 12:! are reported to 
Parliament as effective ships for general service. Also, see 
ulficial statement (B) of the First Lord of the Admiralty to 
Parliament. 



50 

Gold. 
The appropriation for pay and subsistence of officers 

and men «2.S,807,275 

Medical department 795,53() 

Contingent, adnairalty ofllce, scientific board, martial 

law, transportation, &C 4,.'587,1!)0 

33,010,001 
As an example, showing with how little care or study the 
xVdmiral's statement must have heen prepared, of the amounts 
given to the different departments of the English Navy, I will 
give here the actual cost of a vessel like the Inflexible, (taken 
from official statement of the same,) showing that she cost 
$507,350 more than the whole appropriation allowed by the 
Admiral for their department of construction, and about two- 
thirds of the whole amount he gives, as estimated for the total 
yearly expenditures of three bureaus, under whose cognizance 
she would be built. 

Contract for hull alone C401,000 

Contract for engines 120,7.:}O 

Incidentals to complete vessel for service, rigging-, out- 
fits, &c., &c 1 20,00" 

(141,750 
Add 20 per cent., as per Admiral's statement, for what 
would be the increase of cost of ships in the United 
States 1 28.330 

770,080 
5 

Gold, $3,850,400 

This is exclusive of her arnuiment, which is made under 
cognizance of the War Department, and is estimated at 
£60,000, or $300,000, gold. 



51 



CONDITION OF Til K URITIS)! N'AVV. 

S'l/iiitpsi.s of xhdemcnl ijircn by Ihr Mrxf. Lard of t/tc Admiral/i/, in the 
lldiisciif Oiimnons. on Marr/i I:?, ISVO, of llw niunbcr (tnd condilion of 
ri'riain vrxsilx in llcr Mitjculi/'x si'rricr, rrqiiiri'd for cntisiny on tlic 
different stations, apart from f/iinboalsfor harbor purjwses. 





be 




a 

o 

2 s 
_2 § 


i 


cs 
a 


p" 
o 




■3 
bco 


a 
9 






0) 




"3 


■a 
a> 
a 


bpS, 


be 


•3 

d 
o 





^ 3 


'a 

? 

a 


bib 

a 


•3 



> 










.- 




o 




a 


u 


<o 







3 





D 


3 


3< 


8 


aS 


a 




2 
3 


S 
■a 


^ 




/q 


u 


^H 


« 


tf 





i^ 


;^ 


!-) 


M 





Frigates 


2() 


•^ 


2 


5 


7 


o 


1 












Corvettes 


32 


8 


2 




o 


:> 






4 


10 








m 










i;f 




11 




5 


'^ 




Gun-vessels... 


42 
15 




.^ 


1 




10 

2 






4 






r> 


Gunboats 








Total 


138 


*16 


1 


*6 


12 


31 


I 


11 


8 


15 


2 


6 



" The coluinns uiarkccl willi an asterisk sliuw a total of thirty- 
one vessels on tin; navy list, which arc rusting away at the 
bottom of our harbors, a nuisance in the narrow rivers and a 
source of expense in the men who look after them. 

" Number of vessels required for the various stations, 84, viz : 
40 frigates, corvettes and slooj)S, 41 gunboats, and three other 
vessels. Number of shi])s available at present for service being 
10 short of the number pronounci'd necessary in 18G9. 

" Eight of the large iroii-clads have been stricken from the 
navy list, viz: Lord Clyde, Zealous, Ocean, Royal Oak, Royal 
Sovereign, Caledonia, I'rince Consort, and Eiiterj)risc, as they 
have been found rotten, and ct)ndemned. The Lord Clyde 
class have proved ver^' expensive^ from the lirst, and although 
not ten years old are now worthless. This has been a costlj' 
experience, and shows the error of building iron-clads with 
wooden frames. We, too, have learned (like the United 
States) the greater durability of iron in such ships, in our 
monitors, and are substituting iron beams and fi-amcs through- 
out the fle(»t." 



52 



English naval estimates 1875- 


76 and 1876-'77 as voted by Parliament. 




Pounds sterling. 


American gold. 




lS75-'70. 


187()-"77. 


1875-'76. 


187C-'77. 


Pay and subsistence: 

Wages for officers, seaman 

and marines, (a<-tiv(! lis!,).. 

Half-pay, reserved li;iir-i)ay, 

and retired pay to naval 

and marine offlcer.s 

Military pensions & allow- 
ances 


t2,644,062 

889.511 

681,781 
284,529 

1,107.781 

75,548 

188,505 
64,644 
73,530 

197,480 

903.608 
644.751 

1,326,649 

1,285,770 
18,868 
183,916 

156,423 
15.904 
107,324 


C2,634,901 

888,472 

726.136 
282,176 

1,153,367 
76,400 

210,230 
65,830 
76,230 

197,480 

1,353,600 
569,249 

1.323,750 

1.261,320 
20.053 
189,820 

135,547 

15.114 

109,194 


113,220,310 

4,477,555 

3,408,905 
1,422,645 

5,538,905 
377,740 

942.525 

333,220 

367,650 

9S7,400 

4,518,040 
3,223.755 

6,033,245 

6.428,850 

94,340 

919,580 

782,115 
79,520 
5o6.620 


#13,174,520 

4,442,360 
3 030 680 


Civil pensions on Navy list- 
Victuals for seamen and 
marines 


1,410,8H) 

5,766,835 
382,000 

1,051,150 

329,150 

381,150 

987,400 

6,768,000 
2,816,245 

6,618750 

6,306,600 
100.265 


Victualing yards 

Coast-guard service and mxr- 
val reserve 


Medical : 

Medical establishments 

Medicines and medical 
stores 


Transportation of men and 
troops 

Steam machinery, con- 
struction, yards and 
docks and eciuipnicnt: 
Steam machinery and ships 
built by contract 


New work of steam machin- 
ery and I'cpairs for same... 

Dockyards and naval yards, 
wages of mechanics of all 
departments, &c 

Naval stores and all materi- 
al, including timber and 
iron 


Marine divisions 




919 100 


Miscellaneous services or 


677.735 


Martial law & law chai-ges... 
Naval scientific branch 


75.570 
515.970 


Total 


10,850,584 


11.283,872 


51.252,920 


56,444,360 





Number of ships in commission December 1, 1875, including 
Jiulks, <fec., 211. 

Tlic ('ITcclirc shipufor general use are — 

Armor-plated linc-of-hattle ships 4 

Armor-plated friizates and corvettes 11 

Wooden and comi)<)sil(; frigates and corvettes 31 

Sloops and small vessels 66 

Sailing-vessels 11 

Total effective ships 12:^ 



53 

Thi' ollirr vesxrlx <>/ the 211 <irr— 

First rosei'ved ships, armor-iilitod 7 

First reserve sliips. wooil 2 

Training-ships, wooil S 

Stutioiiary, roceivin<r, and depot sli'ps, including the roval 

yachts 19 

Surveying vessels 4 

Transport ships 3 

Store vessels S 

Drill ships S 

Small tenders, tugs, tte 05 

Total non-effective 120 

Mr. Ilanscom also makes a detailed comparison of 
our Navy aud its cost, with those of France, Germany, 
and Spain ; and which is even more damaging to Admiral 
Porter. Here is an extract from what he sa3'S in regard 
to the German Navy, composed of 48 sea-going ships of 
all classes, three of which are large iron-clads, and three 
small iron-clad harbor boats : 

For this small Navj* the German Govornmont appropriated 
for 187(), S1(),C00,000 gold, which is very much more liberal, 
considering the relative size of the two services, than the ap- 
propriations of this Govornment. Actually the purchasing 
power of this money for labor is twice as great in Ger- 
many as in this country; the average price of skilled labor 
being 70 to 80 cents gold per da_y, while in this country it is 
$3 per daj'' in currency; also in Germany the price of material, 
in man}' cases, is considerably lower than in the United States. 
Here it may be as well to observe that one of the German 
iron-clads of 4,033 tons, but not "of the greatest power," 
" with most approved models now built or building," cost the 
German Government $2,150,000 gold ; adding 20 per cent., 
which the Admiral states is the additional cost of building 
ships in this country, would bring the cost in the United States 
up to $2,580,000, yet he proposes in his tables to build (if he 
can only have the aid of a Board of Navy Commissioners) an 



54 

iron-clad t)f almost exactly the same tonnage with "greatest 

speed," " with most approved models," &c., for $1,400,000. 

Total of oHicers and men in German Navy 10,2tiS 

Tola) of otticers and men in United States Navy 10,4.is 

Among the items of the German appropriation are $5,000,000 
for new vessels and $400,000 for new ordnance. 

The Berlin authorities do not see any object in keeping 
afloat a huge iron-clad Navy at an enormous cost, such as 
England strives to maintain, they being well aware of the 
fact that naval construction is in a state of transition at present) 
changing rapidly and radically in short spaces of time ; vessels 
built only ten years ago by the English being considered by 
themselves as obsolete, and not even second-rate fighting ships. 
Eight of their large broadside iron-clads, like the Lord Clyde, 
Prince Consort, Zealous, &c., have been stricken from their 
Navy list by order of the Admiralty, as not worth the expense 
of keeping them in repair. The advent of the monitors wiped 
out, at a single stroke, the predominance of England in her 
wooden walls ; then she commenced to build her fleet of iron- 
clad colossi, from which the Caledonia and Warrior, &c., 
type are now being stricken from her Navy list. Her Navy 
(and those of the nations blindly copying her) soon passed to 
the unwieldj' Minotaur ; next to the shorfships of the Bel- 
lerophon class; then, with another change of opinion, came 
the rigged turreted ships, like the Monai'ch and ill-fated Cap- 
tain, (which, upon her trial trip at sea, turned completely over, 
carrying nearly every one on board to the bottom, with whom 
were several of the most prominent oflicers of the English 
service, who were there as a board to report on her qualities.) 
Finally, after years of experimenting and expenditures of 
enormous sums, they have become satisfied that the monitor 
type is the only correct principle upon which to build a fight- 
ing ship. 

We now see them building Devastations and Inflexibles 
with the same confidence with which they produced their 
Warriors less than ten j^ears since. 



55 

Admiral Porter states, on pages 121: and 425, (Mis. Doc. 
No. 5,) that the English arc "now introducing the 81-ton guns 
on board all their vessels, but the 86-ton gun is tlieir service 
gun," " their iron-clads carrying from four to six of them; 
and they have 18, 20, and 22-inch armor." 

Tiio above tends to mislead ; for the facts arc that, as yet, 
the Engli.sh have only just completed one 81-ton gun, have 
tired six shots from it, and have sent it back to the shops to 
have the chamber made larger, as, with its present size, tliey 
were unable to get the anticipated results. If all proves satis- 
factory, four are to be made for the Inflexible, now building, 
(which is a turret vessel,) and they will be her only armament. 
The following list of ships " of most approved models and most 
invulnerable vessels, now building for the British JSTavy," will 
give accurate information on the above statements, showing 
that they are erroneous in respect to the wholesale introduction 
of the large guns mentioned, and universal adaptation of 18, 
20, and 22-inch armor, as, of all the new iron-clads building, 
only one approaches the greater thickness : 



56 



List of (ill tiriimri'd (ind other ce.sscls now builduig for the Jiriti.sli (,'or- 
crnmcnt. 



Name. 



I No. 



Alexandra ^ jO 

Dreadnauglil I 

Inflexible... -i 



Nelson. 



.l\ 



Northampton. 

Shannon 

Temeraire 

Inconstant 



Shah. 



liaec-hante.... 
Hoadicea 

Euryalus 

Emerald 

Garnet 

(Ipal 

Ruby 

Tourmaline 
Iroquois 

Volage 

Cormorant... 



Pelican 

Penguin 

Wild Swan 

Osprey 

Two steel ships. 



Guns. 



Caliber. 



11-inch. 
10-iiK-h. 
I'i-inch. 



!t-inch.. 

10-inch. 

llinch.. 

10- in eh 

10- in eh. 

!)-ineh... 

10-inch. 

ll-ineh. 

!l-inch. 

7-inch... 

!l-ineh... 

7-inch.. 

(il-l)drs. 

7-incli.. 

(!l-pdrs. 

7-inch... 

(iJ-pdrs.. 

7-inch.. 

()1-V)ilrs. 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

7-inch.., 
Ol-pdrs. 



do. 
.do. 
.do., 
.do.. 



w o O 

Weight £.2* 
in ton.o. I C5^ o 



2.5 ^ 

18 J 
.•^8 

SO 

V>- I 

18 ) 

12 I 

IS i 

1'^ ) 

18 I 

25 J 

12 I 

12 



14 ins. 
I do.... 

21 Ins.... 
9 inches 

I do... 

do... 

■ 11 Ins.... 

None.... 



4^1 



.do... 

.do... 
.do... 



4Ui 



.do.. 

.do., 
.do., 
.do., 
.do.. 

.llO., 

.do., 
.do., 
.do.. 

.do, 
.do, 
.do., 
do., 



Remarks. 



Turrets. Bark- 
rigged. 
Turrets, 



Ship-rigged. 

Do. 

Brig-rigged— 
composite ship 

Ship-rigged— 
composite ship 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Bark -rigged— 
composite ship 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 



In 18G9 and 1870, upon the a]i[)omtment of Mr. Borie as 
Secretary of the Navy, we virtually had something siniiliir to 
the proposed board of naval commissioners, for Admiral Por- 
ter, as is well known, had supreme control of the administra- 
tion of naval alTairs, and at once organized boards of ad 



^37 

iiiirals to visit and inspect all the yards and vessols possibln, 
and to muko recommendations, &c. The records of the De- 
partment will show that the Navy did not recover from the 
results brouLfht about under irresponsible orders, given over 
his own signature. 

The accompanying list will show the immense amounts ex- 
pended for repairs alone, under the short term of naval advisers 
to the Secretary, most of which was n^ado without obtaining 
the advice of experts, either in or out of the service. The 
Niagara (which he now says is rotting for want of care) was 
torn to pieces, at an expense of $50,000 to $60,000, before a 
single plan had been positively decided upon as to the future, 
and then left, as she now stands, as a monument of those two 
eventful years for the Navy. 

The j^acht America was rejtaired by Admiral Port(M', at a 
cost of $20,501), apparently for the purpose only of entering a 
yacht race with his flag flying. She never could serve any 
useful naval purpose. 

Twenty-four propellers which had been designed for the ves- 
sols when built, and had given good results, were taken off, and 
a nondescript substituted, without consultation with experts, 
either naval or otherwise, and which men lionversant with 
those matters knew had been proved, some years before, to be 
failures, by both the English and French Governments. This 
was accomplished after an expenditure of nearly $200,000, and 
the result was, as expected by those practically conversant with 
such matters, that they had to be all replaced by the old ones, 
and the others thrown into that unfortunate scrap heap which 
so distresses the Admiral that he requires a Board of Commis- 
sioners of high rank to take care of it. 

Numerous sales of vessels and large amounts of material 
were made, and the money was expended in naval chimeras 
like the above, the greatest part of which proved utterly worth- 
less, and some of a positive injury to the service, and which 
caused Congress to enact a law that the money accruing from 
such sales should be turned into the Treasury. 



58 

At this time (sec Hem. Mr. Stevens's speech in Congress) 
commenced those serious dissensions between the line and staff 
corps, by the issuing of the notorious General Order No. 120, 
which was issued to carry into effect a threat which had been 
made, (see Mr. Stevens's speech,) in consequence of the staff" 
declining to support the Board of Admiralty bill, (which, by a 
strange coincidence, at that time proposed the Vice-Admiral 
as its head, and now proposes the Admiral, the then Vice-Ad- 
miral being now the Ailmiral,) introduced into Congress at 
that time. 

Finally, the Admiral ventured to give orders over his own 
signature for the expenditure of money, which the Secretary 
of the Treasury positively declined to honor. 

A careful investigation by the Naval Committee of tlie 
records of the Navy Department for the years 1869 and 1870 
will convince them of the inadvisability of a board of naval 
commissioners, organized and instituted upon any of the va- 
rious plans proposed. 



59 



ssels ordered to be repaired under cof/nizunre of the Biiredu of Con- 
struetion and Repair, from March, 1869, fo October, 1870. 



Antictam 315, 

PililiiMi 4, 

Vamlcrbilt l, 

Monterey Ill 

Snowdrop 2. 

Standish 2. 

jS'ipsic 52. 

8ha\vnuit 71 

Pinta 

Nina 12, 

Mohongo ;> 

Kansas". 14() 

Saco i 149, 

Chattanooga ! 1, 

Camanche 20, 

Galena 15, 

Roanoke 0, 

Agamenticus 54, 

Severn 1:^0, 



Canonicus 

Dictator 

Iowa 

Monadnoc 

INIiantonomoh , 

Triana 

Fortune 

Saugus 

May Flower 

Mercury 

Jean Sands 

Pft'iwinkle 

I.eyden 

Palos 

Yantic 

Swatara 

Resaca 

Phlox 

(Congress 

Nantasket 

Worcester 

Pennsylvania.. 

Guerricrc 

Frolic 

Sorrel 

Ticonderoga 

Shawnee 



9 

11, 

3 

1 

5 

C 

38, 

15, 

91, 

3, 

14, 

184, 

107, 

134, 

1, 

159, 

12, 

3 

210, 

3, 



SI2 
152 
421 

370 

380 
51 S 
183 
821 

9S1 

790 
,117 
G34 
101 
•503 
614 
,S7() 
2(i9 
091 

,40;! : 

,517 I 

57 b I 

392 

401 

207 

Oltf 

422 

895 

207 

787 

919 

3U 

792 

818 

193 

050 

0S2 

900 

35S 

SSO 

897 

257 

no 

672 
963 
,532 



Tennessee iii!313,614 

Guard i 42.448 

Rescue 990 

.Vmerica 19.068 

Blue Light ' 1,936 

Sus(|UChanna 6,283 

Powhatan 6.018 

Saraiiac 173016 

Michigan 3,559 

Shenandoah 306,235 

Canandaigua 97 551 

Cohasset.. 6,911 

Franklin 17,085 

Niagara 22,186 

WMi)ash 97,175 

(\)lorado 272,852 

Minnesota 97,108 

Lackawanna 305,924 

Harford 42.897 

Brooklyn 510,874 

Lancaster ' 132,217 

Pensacola | 421,168 

79.090 

10 513 

.233,407 

96,690 

81,374 

27,051 

26,424 

23.882 

261,457 

67,401 

62 057 

133,797 

15.200 

16,754 

1 17,420 

6,911 

2,278 

27.339 

10,419 

16.152 

75,122 

2,494 

24,814 



Naragansetl 

Iro(iuois 

W.yoining 

Pawnee 

Mohican 

Dacotah 

Seminole 

Saginaw 

Ossipee 

VVacIuuett 

.Inniata 

Constellation .. 

Saratoga 

t'yane 

St. Mary's 

Dale 

Ohio 

Independence. 

Potomac 

Savannah 

Sabine 

St. Lawrence... 
Supply 



61 



LETTER No. 5. 



It is not the part of .statesuuuiship to strike down and 
destroy an industry capal)le of giving employment to 
thousands of our media nics and working people, and 
in which our reputation as a commercial nation is so 
largely involved. Statesmanship would encourage, ex- 
tend, and protect it by all proper means. We refer 
particularly to iron shipbuilding, which is still in its in- 
fancy in this country ; and to the adoption of such new 
and improved machinery as will enable us not only to 
cope with other nations, but to regain if possible the 
place our mercantile marine held but a few years ago. 
And yet this striking down and destroying policy is the 
one Congress has pursued towards our shipbuilding and 
maritime interests for a long time. To say that the 
people of this country have ceased to look to Congress 
for statesmanship is saying only what is true. Instead 
of taking broad views and generous action in regard to 
our mercantile marine. Congress has folded its arms and 
looked on with indifference while our ocean carrying trade 
has passed almost entirely out of our hands and into those 
of foreigners. In truth its sympathies as well as its 
legislation have been in the interest and for the benefit 
of foreigners. It is not creditable to us as a great, pro- 
gressive, commercial nation that what mercantile marine 
we have is nearly all confined to coastwise and river 
trade, and that among all the great steamship lines doing 
the carrying trade between our ports and Europe, we 
loolc in vain for the American flag. This, too, in face 
of the fact that less than twenty years ago we were 



62 

acknowledged to have tlie most skillful shipbuilders, 
their models and work being admired the world over. 
Our captains were also famous for their skill and ex- 
perience. There must be some great governing cause for 
all this ; and the quicker we find where and what it is, 
and apply the proper remedy, the better. We are will- 
ing to make due allowance for what the war did to 
damage our commerce on the ocean ; but. we must go 
beyond that, to unwise, capricious, and dangerous legisla- 
tion, for the real cause. The war ended more than ten 
years ago, and still a majority of our shipyards remain de- 
serted, while many of our workshops are struggling for 
an existence. In New York, workshops that were 
the most prominent a few years ago — the Novelty, 
the Allaire, and the Neptune — have gone out of exis- 
tence. A stable now marks the spot where the great 
Novelty works stood. 

Let us go back a few years and contrast the conduct 
of the English Government in support of the Cunard 
line with the treatment of the Collins line by ours. The 
brothers Edward, Samuel, and Joseph Cunard, were re- 
markable for their enterprise and public spirit. Joseph, 
the youngest, did perhaps the most extensive timber and 
deal trade on this continent, at Miramachi, New Bruns- 
wick, but was not successful. 

Edward and Samuel were extensively engaged in 
shipping at Halifax, acted for many years as the North 
American agents of the old East India Company, and 
through that means amassed what was then considered 
a large fortune. Samuel was always the progressive 
master-spirit of the house ; and if we mistake not, fre- 



63 

(luently engaged iu enterprises his elder brother Edward 
took but little interest in ; to be brief, Edward retired 
with his fortune, and Samuel founded tiie line of 
steamships which now bears his name. It was his con- 
ception and adoption, he used to say. Of cours3 he had 
to meet and overcome all sorts of obstacles — the opposi- 
tion of certain high officials in the British Admiralty 
Board, and the distrust of banking institutions being 
the most serious. That was in 1839. It is said iMr. 
Cunard, familiarly known as Sam Cunard, built the 
Unicorn, (pioneer ship,) and the Acadia entirely with 
his own money. Be this as it may, in less than three 
years, and when only four ships wcu'c afloat, Mr. Cunard 
had not only all his available means locked u]) in the 
line, but was so deeply involved, financially, that it was 
feared the line would be a hopeless failure. Friends 
who had before placed confidence in his judgment shook 
their heads doubtingly, and the banks, some of which 
he had exercised a controlling influence over a short 
time before, closed their vaults to him. More than that, 
importuning creditors, English as well as colonial, be- 
gan to press their claims, and even resort to the courts 
for their collection. 

Mr. Cunard proceeded to Enghind, to meet his friends 
as well as his (.'reditors, make a statement of his affiiirs, 
and ask for time. He met, however, with slender en- 
couragement. In short, several of his creditors took 
measures for his arrest for debt ; this so disheartened 
him that he determined to elude the sherift", who entered 
the agent's office by one door as Mr. Cunard, in the 
garb of a sailor, passed out of another, and that night 



64 

sailed for Halifax on one of his own steamers. He 
knew that if he allowed himself to be arrested it would 
get noised abroad, increase his difficulties, and perhaps 
destroy the line. The only alternative was to place his 
business in the hands of friends who still had faith in 
the ultimate success of the enterprise. 

There were large minds in Parliament at that day. 
The small minds and dry rot on the matter referred to 
were confined to the fine old Admirals of the " British 
Board of Admiralty." Parliament came promptly and 
generously forward, and rescued the Cunard line from 
pending destruction, saved it to the country and com- 
merce, but it could not relieve Mr. Cunard of his finan- 
cial troubles. This prompt action of Parliament afforded 
another proof of the care with which England nurtures 
and protects her commerce, and forecasts the results. 
We all know and appreciate what the Cunard line has 
done for England and her commerce. Its success has 
prompted other Governments to encourage and build up 
similar enterprises, until we have not less than fourteen 
lines of ocean steamers sailing between New York and 
European ports, all doing a profitable business ; but not 
one of them carrying the American flag. 

Collins was not unlike Samuel Cunard. In energy 
and enterprise he was his equal ; in forecast, his superior ; 
both were busy, bustling men, generous-hearted, open- 
handed, and progressive in advance of their time. Col- 
lins had successfully established a line of packet ships, 
famous for their beauty and speed. But he saw very 
clearly that the days of packet ships were passing away, 
and that the steady advances England was making in 



65 

establishiug and luaiutaining her steamship lines must 
secure to her the eoninierce and carrying trade of the 
ocean unless proper measures were taken to secure our 
rightful share of it. AH our previous attempts to 
establish steamship lines on the ocean had ended in fail- 
ure. The Hermann, the Franklin, the Washington, the 
Humboldt and other ships, had ended their short career 
in disaster. We were at faidt everywhere, 'riiere was no 
unity of design or action between the ship-builder and the 
engineer. The hulls of these ships were a clumsy con- 
glomeration of lines; the whole being unsightly and de- 
fective. The engines were even worse, and more defective 
than the hulls. They were crude in design, of insufficient 
power; and a proof that nuirine-engine building was 
in its intiiucy in this country, and that our engineers 
had not grasped the true;jecret of their profession. It, 
indeed, looked as if both ship-builder and engineer re- 
garded it as of much more importance to spec\date on 
theories and experiments, one independent of the other, 
than to adopt well-tested improvements, as the English 
and .Scotch were doing. 

]\Ir. Collins made a commendable effort to profit by 
these errors and give the country something that would 
successfully compete with the Cunard line. His friends 
came generously forward, and New York merchants, 
with that public spirit which has always characterized 
them, aided him cheerfully, and the result was four of 
the most magnificent steamships afloat at that time. 
Their defects were confined to their engines ; but from 
the very outset Mr. Collins found himself hampered by 
Congress. What it did for him one year it would undo the 
9 



6G 

next. Its vacillatiug iind uncertaiu action was more dam- 
aging than all else. When he wanted the ear and action of 
Congress most, he could only reach it through a cordon 
of hungry lobbyists, whose po(;kets he had to fill with 
gold. Congress, too, in its short-sighted legislation, in- 
sisted on giving the ships a divided command; that is, 
they must have both a uaval and a civilian captain, 
the former to look after the interests of the Government 
and make himself disagreeable generally. These Navy 
captains, as they were called, were generally young, 
airy, and inexperienced lieutenants, who differed with 
the civilian ca})tain in everything, even to the attention 
thtiy should pay to lady passengers, and claimed a pre- 
rogative in view' of rank. Few of them had any sym- 
pathy with the enterprise, or felt any pride in their own 
position. We remember one of these naval heroes who 
was so much given to the "lady part" of his duties, 
and so little to the navigation of the ship, that he found 
himself inside of Cape Cod, when his destination was 
New York. In fine, your gold-embroidered naval cap- 
tain was an impediment it was found necessary to get 
rid of 

AVhen the day of trouble to the Collins line came, 
and when wise and generous action on the part of Con- 
gress was needed most, Congress not oidy withdrew its par- 
simonious aid, but virtually abandoned it. Congress did 
not even deal justly by the line, for it withheld money 
due and honestly earned for carrying the mail. To our 
discredit as a nation, the Collins line went down. It 
is idle to talk about bad and extravagant management ; 
of the loss of the Arctic and Pacific ; and the ruin of 



67 

tlie Adriatic through ]\Ir. Eiigiueer .\.llcu, aud his plug- 
valve. Euglishincu did uot get alarmed aud abandon 
the Cunard line, because through error of judgment the 
Cokunbia was lost, aud two or more of their ships were 
run ashore on the coast of Newfoundland. The most 
extensive line of steamships established by Englishmen, 
magniticent in all its surroundings, was the AVest India 
aud South American. Its early history was conspicuous 
for disasters and inefficient management. We believe 
we are right iu stating that the company lost either 
six or seven of its fine ships in less thau three years. 
Still Parliament did not abandon the line, uor did 
Englishmen get alarmed at their losses. The company 
brought a different and more experienced class of cap- 
tains into their service, and in the end succeeded. That 
line is to-day carrying to England a large portion of 
the trade which several years ago Boston, New York 
and Baltimore, enjoyed. So much for what our short- 
sighted policy has done to diminish our commerce. 

We might also refer with feelings of pride to the 
splendid line (British) of steamers established by Mr. 
Wainwright, ou the Pacific, between I'anama, Callao, 
Valparaiso, and other ports. This line is to-day one of 
the most successful afloat. Wainwright was an Amer- 
ican, who, after making several unsuccessful attempts to 
enlist our Government and our capitalists in his enter- 
prise, proceeded to London, and found both Englishmen 
and the English Government ready to aid him. 

Aud now, after a lapse of more than thirty years 
of experiment and failure iu ocean steamships, we have 
a uumber of High Old Salts of the American Navy, 



68 

with Adniinil Porter at their head, muddliug the brains 
and confoundiDg the minds of a Committee of Congress 
by advocating wliat has long since been discarded by 
other nations as worthless. Not content with this, they 
increase the confusion by opposing the very inventions 
the foremost nations of Europe have tested and adopted, 
being alike safe and economical, as well as the best 
calculated to ensure success. Their testimony, so derog- 
atory to the compound engine, is the most forcible ex- 
ample of this. They told the Committee with charming 
simplicity, and the Committee, with refreshing credulity, 
believed all they said, that the compound engine was an 
entirely new thing, an experiment, and very dangerous. 
Let us see what really are the facts : 

" It is no new thing for this Bureau to be tried by the opin- 
ions and prejudices of its enemies rather than by a just com- 
parison of facts," says Engvneer-in-Chief Wood. -'^ * * 
" The compound engine which is now used extensively, but by 
no means exclusively, in our navy, was not a new thing when 
we began to build them. The firm of John Elder & Co., the 
famous engine builders, began their manufacture in 1854 ; and 
up to 1871, had put them in one hundred and seven (107) 
ships." 

Admiral Porter, and other High Old Salts, whose 
fears have been excited at the thought of being ex- 
ploded by one of these compound machines, would do 
well to make a note of this. We are indebted to En- 
gineer-in-Chief Wood for a copy of a report made by 
the Lords of the British Admiralty, to Parliament, in 
1872 ; and in which the merits of this " very dangerous 
invention " are vei-y clearly discussed. We will make a 



(59 

few extracts from it, for the especial benefit of Admiral 
Porter and other first-class grumblers. On page eleven, 
the Lords of the British Admiralty, say : 

" Its use has become very general in the mercantile marine, 
and the weight of evidence in favor of the large economy of 
fuel thereby gained, is to our minds overwhelming and con- 
clusive. * * * "We beg, therefore, to recommend that the 
use of compound engines may bo generally adapted in ships of 
war hereafter to be constructed, and applied whenever it can 
be done with due regard to economy and to the convenience of 
the service to those already built." 

The above, it must remembered, is the opinion of a 
Board of High Old British Admirals, certain malicious 
writers will insist is seriously afflicted with dry rot. On 
page 14, same report, we find that William Pierce, Esq., 
one of the firm of .John ]^]l(ler & Co., says : 

" I prefer compound engines. Their extra weight, when 
engines and boilers are taken together, is inconsiderable ; but 
the saving of fuel is 50 per cent. Thej' require no more space, 
and can be equallj' well protected." 

Again he says, page 17 : 

" There is certain!}" a great advantage in using them." 

E. J. Reed, Esq., late Chief Constructor of the Royal 
Navy testifies, (same report :) 
" Compound engines are more economical than the old type." 

On page 19, Vice Admiral Sir Robert Spencer Rob- 
inson, late Controller of the Navy, says : 

" Compound engines have been lately tried which use only 
1.0 !lis. of coal per indicated horse power per hour, against 
3.") !lis. used by ordinary engines. T intended before leaving 



70 

office to rc"CM)mmoiuI their general iuloption, and trust that 
course will he taki^n." 

Oil paii'o 225, Kavenliill, Hudson & Co., famous cn- 
giue builders, state : 

" The dill'erenee in the consumption of fuel hetween the best 
known type of compound engine, carrjing sixty pounds pres- 
sure, and the ordinary form of surface condensing engine of 
the best type used in the British Navy, is stated to be, from 
the results of experiments, 20 per cent." 

The Laird Brothers, so well known as the builders of 
rebel cruisers, say, on page 226 : 

" Our opinion is that the difference in the consumption of 
fuel in the Intcst form of compotmd enc/ines, such as made by 
us for H. M. ship Briton, and the ordinary form of surface 
condensing engines used in the British Navy is in proportion 
of 2: 3.5." 

On page 227, P. Deuney, Esq., says : 

" The difference in consumption of fuel, per indicated horse 
power, may be assumed as 2 lbs. for tlie compound against 3 lbs. 
for the ordinary form of engines." 

On page 228, Humphreys, Tennant & Co., say: 

" H. M. ship Monarch, (simple engine,) 2.7 lbs. of coal per 
I. P. per H., and H. M. ship Tenedore, (compound engines) 
2.3 lbs. of coal per I. P." 

We have Mr. Elder again, on page 229: 
" From our knowledge of such engines as are used in the 
merchant service we consider that the consumption of fuel be- 
tween the best type of compound engines, and the best type of 
ordinary surface condensing engines is in favor o'f the former in 
proportion of two to three." 

These extracts are enough for all practical purposes, 



71 

and with iikjii disposed to be conviuced of their errors 
should settle the question. The fiict that so conserva- 
tive and well-managed a line as the Cunard, w-hich em- 
ploys the best engineering talent, and adapts only what 
has been thoroughly tested should replace its old type of 
engine with the compound, would remove any doubts 
we mio-ht have as to the value of its merits. 



LETTER No. 6. 

We will prcliu'c these i'ew concliuliii^' remarks, as the 
preachers put it, by saying that fine old admirals, with 
sixteen thousand (h)llars a year pay, nothing to do, and 
no end to prize money to ensure patriotism and sustain 
dignity, were luxuries neither contemplated or provided 
for by the simple-miuded tiitliers of the Republic. They 
are costly ornaments becpieathed to us by a civil war and 
tlu! Kepublican party. The admirals, however, are a 
reality ; and we must make the best we can of them, 
whether it be for the nation's amusement or instruction. 
But we do not like to have it said of us that we are the 
most servile of imitators ; that if we do not bow^ be- 
fore crowns we ai'e expert copyists of rank. 

AV^e must take good care of our Admiral, and jnake 
him happy — if W'e can. When a school-boy, a fidl- 
feathei-ed and fierce old admiral was an object we re- 
garded with fear and trembling. We have got over 
that ; and indeed come to regard admirals as common 
mortals. Our recollection of our [)reseut Clreat American 
Admiral i-xteuds back more than a ipiarter of a century. 
He was 

PLAIN rAl'TAIN DAVID 

then, and comnuxnded the steamer (xeorgia, of the Bloc 
line. He was our admiration then, as he is our admira- 
tion now. In return for this, he has alibrdcd us no end 
of amusement. Even then, his mind was of a breezy 
turn, and his hands given to the use of foolscap. We 
have known him engage in the business of manufactur- 
ing storms with himself as the centre — of blowing. Wc 
10 



74 

do not, luciin to say by this that, like some of oui- groat 
generals, he was given to blowing his own trumpet. 
That w^as an accomplishment Ca})tain David deserved 
credit for. Bloo's ships wore famous for poor seaman- 
ship and the amount of gold endiroidery their officers 
wore. The company was under contract with the Gov- 
ernment to carry the mails Ix'tween New York and As- 
jiinwall, and to touch at Charleston, Savannah, and 
Havana, to deliver and receive mails and passengers. 
At Charleston and Savannah they were to come inside 
the bars, meet tugs or small steamers sent down to meet 
them, the object being to make the exchange in smooth 
water. Other captains of th(> line complied cheerfully, 
and discharged the duty satisfactorily. Captain David 
was nearly always in a state of rebellion; now with the 
com})any, now with the (Ttovernnient, then with the 
passengers, liebellion was his nornuil condition. Those 
ugly-looking bars, with the breaking, seething waters, 
used to distress Captain David. Now there would not 
be water enough for him to sound his way over — then 
the sea would run too high to make the atteinjit to cross 
entirely safe. 

We may say truly that Captain David was nearly 
always in a dilemma. Then he had a mild-mannered but 
very wicked way of dumping, outside of the bar, his 
passengers and mails into fishing-smacks or any sort of 
craft he could come within hailing distance of, and leave 
them to make the rest of the voyage in their own way. 
Of course he would take care of Captain David, and 
they must take care of themselves. Outgoing passen- 
gers and mails must wait for the next ship. Captain 
David did'nt care. 



75 

This style of subjectiug passengers to sufleriug and 
danger, so peculiar to Captain David, was not stij)ulated 
for in the contract, and became a subject of complaint 
and I'emonstrance. It was a mild-mannered way Captain 
David had of letting ordinary peojdi; know he would 
do as he d — d pleased. 

Weil, we lost sight of our breezy mariner for several 
years, and began to cast about for some one to admire- 
Good old Baron Munchausen, the companion of our 
youth, was no longer available. Don Quixote had 
amused and instructed us, and, indeed, shown us what 
a true Christian could do for his fellow mortals. Our 
long since departed and much lamented friend (General 
Quattlebaum (he of South Carolina) no longer plagued 
us with his regiment of fire-eaters, every man with a 
coffin on his back, nor threatened to hang us to a pal- 
metto tree because we spelled the last syllable of his 
name without an a. With all these illustrious characters 
passed away, and no longer available, what were we to do? 

We had passed suddenly from peace and all its bless- 
ings into a great civil war and all its horrors — from 
commodores to High Old Admirals. We waked up one 
calm autumn morning in October, 18()2, to find our 
breezy and long-lost accjuaintance the terror of the 
Mississippi, in command at ^Nltnind City, and trans- 
formed into a full-feathered admii'al, with buttons to 
correspond. Yes, he was in all his glory and making 
things lively at 

MOUND CITY. 

He was the United States, Mound City, the Navy, Sec- 
retary of the Navy, and Board of Admiralty — all rolled 



76 

into one. He was a terror to rebels, uutl always kej)t 
his patriotism at high pressure ; and his name aud fame 
resounded over the valley where the great Mississippi 
rolls. Indeed, he rarely sipped his coffee of a morning 
without counting on the tips of his fingers the number 
of rebels he would send to their long homes before sun- 
set. We congratulated ourselves on the Admiral's con- 
solidation at Mound City ; that he had the Treasury of 
the United States in his locker, and was under full sail. 
He was the only man in the country who knew all about 
a gunboat, and also how a first-class fighting navy could 
be got up. He told us just to wait a little while and he 
would shOAv us a fleet of gunboats, iron and tin clad, 
that would astonish us. So^ we waited patiently and 
looked forward for something that would take the shine 
out of your ocean navy. 

The Admiral was right. He did astonish us with a 
fleet of ten or a dozen of the oddest-looking water craft 
ever seen on the Mississippi or any other river. It re- 
quired rare and original genius to invent anything so 
grotesque.' That ancient mariner, Noah, was not a rec- 
ognized shipbuilder, but his ark was a beauty of model 
compared with these. 81ii Ho Am Ti, the first emperor 
of China, invented and caused the first junk to be built 
and sent to Foo Choo. If we err, General Sherman, 
who has both Antediluvian and Mongolian history at his 
tongue's end, can correct us. It at once occurred to us 
that the Admiral had been studying INIullett as an arch- 
itect, and Noah and Shi Ho Am Ti as shipbuilders. 
We say this because nearly all the Admiral's gunboats 
Avere Mansard-roofed, whil(> their hulls were a compro- 



77 

mise between llie ark and junk. Some ot" them were 
lean in the centre and big at both ends. Von eonhbi't 
tell which end was bow and which stern. In short, they 
were a good deal like Irving's galiot, and would go 
aliead one way just as well as another. There was a 
craft, too, of the Admiral's gunboat order, that looked 
like a bateau, with an elongated bake oven on her deck* 
We were to have, the Admiral intimated, some fierce 
uaval eugagemeuts between the rebels and these gun- 
boats, something in the way of warfares that would 
make our very hair stand. 

It was about this time that we discovertid, as did Mr. 
Secretary Welles, that the Admiral was a great 

PR ACTIO A I. JOKE It. 

We say joker, because our good Cxrandfather NV^elles dis- 
covered the Admiral, almost daily, making him the 
victim of a series of jokes that would end in costing the 
(government niillious of dollars. These jokes came in 
the shape of requisitions, and came so fast that Grand- 
father Welles held up his hands in despair and proclaimed 
Admiral I). D. Porter the most costly luxury the (Jov- 
ernment had ever been compelled to indulge in. It was 
all for Mound City and the Admiral's nondescript in- 
land navy, to be spent by the Admiral pretty much as 

he (1 d please ; and had we not the Admiral's word 

for it that he was a severe economist? There was a 
time w'hen it looked as if the Treasury of the United 
.States would have to be drained to keep Mound City 
and Admiral Porter supplied with funds ; but, then, 
this Mound City business was a huge joke. 

The Admiral asks us to accept him as an economist, 



and yet we veutui-e to assert that iiowhere in the liistory 
of our Navy can another case be found in which so much 
money in so short a space of time was spent or squan- 
dered, and with such poverty of result, as was done at 
Mound City, under the administration of the Admiral. 
But, then, it was all a joke, cracked at Grandfather 
Welles' expense. 

On February 1st, 1863, we have the Admiral afloat 
again, and in the roll of a modern Christian statesman. 
He is on the Yazoo rivei-, and orders Colonel Ellett to 
proceed to Vicksburg, and destroy a rebel steamer. It 
occurred to us at the time that this was a very remarka- 
ble order coming from an officer wliose Government held 
that the war should be (tarried on after the manner of 
Christians. I^isten to what the Admiral says, but save 
your blushes : " It will not be part of your duty to save 
the lives of those on board. They must look out for them- 
selves ; and may think themselves lucky if they do not 
meet the same fate meted out to the Harriett Lane." 
* * * He tells him, also, to " shout ' Harriet Lane' 
into the cars of the rcl)els," as they are going down. 
There is something exquisitely fiendish about this. To 
tell the honest truth he ordered I^llett to copy the very 
bad example set by some of our missionary-eating 
brothers of the I'iji Islands. 

And then, here is where the finer touches of his 
humanity are displayed : " If you can fire turpentine 
balls (the Chinee conies in here) from your bow field- 
pieces, into the light upper works, it will make a fine 
finish to the sinking part." That was virtually tell- 
ing; the brave Ellett that if he could not finish his vie- 



79 

liins hy (Irowning- hv could mast ihrm to (K^alli with 
blazing turpentine balls. We are charitable enough to 
believe that the Admiral intended this only as a joke ; 
lliat unihM- tlu> I)etter pi-oiuptings ot his head and heart 
he would prefer tilling the stomachs of his "[jrisoners with 
duff and pea soup to roasting them to death with tur- 
pentine balls. Your Chinaman would have caught his 
enemy first, and then crammed the turpentine ball down 
his throat. 



81 



LETTER No. 7. 

Our voyage has been much louger than wo intended 
at the outset, and we find ourself drifted into the Red 
River Expedition, where we find the Navy and Admiral 
Porter, both extensively illuminated. Illuniinating 
himself is a w'eakness with the Admiral. 

The true history of our military and naval expedi- 
tion into the Red River country, whenever written, will 
make very interesting reading, though it will undoubt- 
edly develoji many things not flattering to our military 
or political morality. That expedition was essentially 
a cotton-picking and cotton-stealing enterprise, conceived 
by cunning and characterless speculators at Washington, 
and adopted by the Government under a sentimental 
and mistaken notion of duty. The first grave mistake 
made was in appointing General Banks to command the 
expedition. Banks was not skilled in the arts of ac- 
cumulation. Butler was in every way suited to the 
business ; and it was a great oversight in the Govern- 
ment not to have given him the command. With Ad- 
miral Porter in command of the Navy and Butler the 
army those two hundred thousand bales of cotton, w'e 
were told by the cunning speculators at Washington, 
the rebels had scattered around loose over that country, 
and out of which millions of dollars could be mani|)a- 
lated, w^ould have come to the front as if by some magic 
influence, and Avould also have been labeled for prize 
money. It would not have mattered with these lively 
accumulators of cotton that we were making war on our 
11 



82 

own people, or that the booty they got possession of 
was private property. Prize money was the bane of 
the Navy, the great impelling motive with the Admiral, 
and the great medium of demoralization with the army. 
Indeed, this expedition showed to what base uses the 
Army and Navy of the United States could be put. 
That soldiers like Franklin and Emory, men who re- 
tained some pride in their profession, became disgusted 
with the enterprise and desired to withdraw from it, is 
not surprising. There was nothing for the honest sol- 
dier to do. 

Banks was not to blame for the disgraceful failure. 
No general was ever placed in such an anomalous or 
embarrassing position. He had — 

Cotton thieves in the front of him, 
Cotton thieves in the rear of him, 
Cotton thieves on the right of him, 
Cotton thieves on the left of him, 
Growling and scheming. 

If he got the best of the cotton thieves one day he was 
sure to find himself surrounded by military difficulties 
the next. It is true, Mr. Lincoln, in his innocence, sent 
Banks to command the army when the field was exactly 
suited to Butler's genius. Banks, it was true, was in 
command, but had little or no control over his forces. 
One of his generals rej^orted to (Irant, another to Sher- 
man, and still another to the Secretary of War, or, if 
more convenient, to Mr. Lincoln. An entirely new 
method of enforcing discipline had been adopted, which 
brought joy to the hearts of the cotton thieves. 

General Steel, who had a single eye to business, snap- 
ped his fingers at Banks, marched into another part of 



^ 83 

the country with liis coniinaiid, and went somewhat ex- 
tensively into the business ofaceumuhiting cotton on his 
own account. The gushing Porter had been ordered to 
co-operate witli Banks, but woukl not do anything of 
the kind. The idea of so breezy an Admiral taking ad- 
vice on nautical allairs from an army officer, was to him 
supremely ridiculous. He would as soon think of telling 
all he knew before a Committee of Congress. According 

to our fine old Admiral, the Navy didn't care a d d 

for the Army. And if we may credit all that has been 
written and said on the subject, there was no love lost 
on either side. 

Here the mercurial Sherman appears ; and, as if to 
make confusion more confused, ordered General Andrew 
Jackson Smith, who was kindly disposed towards Banks, 
and had previously supported him cheerfully, to "rej^wrt, 
not to Banlcs, hut Admiral D. D. Porter, the fast friend of 
the Army of the Tennessee." O ! Sherman. But then it 
was just like Sherman. The absurdity would have done 
credit to Don (Quixote. The only wonder is that Sher- 
man, in one of his capricious moods, had not told the 
gushing Porter, the " fast friend of the Army of the 
Tennessee," to assume command of both Army and 
Navy ; and as a climax to the absurdity, ordered Banks 
to report to him. But how General Andrew Jackson 
Smith (on shore) was to report his military achievements 
to an admiral afloat, who didn't want advice on " nauti- 
cal affairs " from military men, and who had gone several 
hundred miles up the river beyond reach of the army — 
where not even his'own trumpet could be heard — General 
Sherman does not tell us. Banks soon learned to his 



84 

cost that rebels and cottou thieves were not the only 
enemies he would have to fight. West Point, and the 
Annapolis Academy were equally formidable, and even 
less reasoning. 

It soon became apparent, too, that the rebels were not 
disposed either to be whipped without a struggle, or have 
their cotton taken from them by force. The Army, or 
rather General Banks, then proposed to do the square 
thing by them. He proposed a sort of truck-and-dieker 
arrangement, by which a penny would be turned on 
both sides. That is, the enemy, or rebel, was to bring 
his cotton, sugar, and molasses, into our camp, in a 
Christian-like way, and we would hold it for him in 
trust, or sell it for him on commission. Nothing could 
be fairer in a trade. Brother Jonathan said. He wanted 
to oblige them, anyhow ; and if it was not satisfactory 
we would swap commodities, they giving us cotton, 
sugai', and molasses, and we giving them tea, coffee, 
calicoes, and prayer books. If they were very hard up 
we would throw in a few greenbacks. The arrange- 
ment was not strictly in accordance with the common 
usages of war, but there was a heap of humanity in it, 
and it began working satisfactorily. 

Just as we were beginning to smoke the pipe of peace 
with our erring brothers; just as they were bringing in 
their commodities to exchange with us, on a satisfactory 
basis, our breezy Admiral interposed an obstacle that put 
an end to it, and made 'enemies of men disposed to be 
friendly. Hoisting his flag and snapping his fingers at 
the army, the Admiral, with his fleet of iron-clads^ pro- 
ceeded up the river, and began accumulating cotton 



85 

iudiscriiuinatcly. His sailors were soinctiiucs sent miles 
inland to bring oft' bales the army had really captured. 
This so exasperated the enemy that he began destroying 
his cotton rather than have it taken away from him in 
such a mild-mannered way and made subject of prize to 
the Navy. 

We have frequently heard innocent persons ask what 
could have prompted so experienced an Admiral to im- 
peril his fleet by taking it nearly five hundred miles up 
a narrow, tortuous, and treacherous river, full of snags, 
stumps, falls, shoals, and ledges? The answer may be 
found in the impelling force of prize money made from 
cotton. The cotton speculators told him there was a 
paradise filled with cotton bales at the head of that 
treacherous stream, and the Admiral resolved to explore 
that paradise if he lost his fleet. How near he came losing 
that fleet we all know. We also know how plaintively he 
called upon the army he had only a few weeks before re- 
fused to co-operate with, to save him. Eiit the Admiral 
got the cotton, and held on to it. 

QUESTION OF VERACITY. . 

In this connection General Banks says, with much 
force of reasoning : 

" Had it been left to my discretion I should have reluctantly 
undertaken, in a campaign requiring but eight or ten light- 
draught gunboats, to force twenty heavy iron-clads 490 miles 
up a river proverbially as treacherous as the rebels who defended 
it, and which had given notice of its ciiaracter by steadily 
falling when, as the Admiral admits, all other rivers were 
booming." 



86 

Booming is good. But if the indignant general had 
thoroughly understood the attractive force of prize 
money he would not have made this severe charge against 
our venerable Admiral's judgment as a navigator. And 
just here let us say that we regard it as very unkind of 
General Banks to be continually putting the Admiral's 
veracity in question. Here are one or two specimens of 
the way he does it : 

"Admiral Porter says, that ' All my vessels navigated the 
river to Grand Ecore with ease, and with some of them I 
reached Springfield Landing, the place designated to meet the 
army, -x- * * My part was successfully accomplished ; the 
failure of the army to proceed, and the retreat to Grand Ecore, 
left me almost at the mercy of the enemy.' The records of the 
campaign do not at all support the reckless and fiery ardor of 
this statement. The fleet did not reach the ' place appointed' 
until two full days after the first decisive battle with the 
enemy." 

This is a case where the Admiral's account of the 
" rebellion," which he has solemnly promised to write 
for the especial benefit of the future historian, and which 
we have been waiting for with nervous anxiety, would 
be a little off color. Banks proceeds : 

" The Admiral occupied four days in moving one hundred 
and four miles, on what he calls ' a rising river,' with ' good 
water,' to the place appointed. General T. Kirby Smith states 
that the fleet made twenty miles on the 7th, fifty-seven miles 
on the 8th, eighteen miles on the 9th, and nine miles on the 
10th of April." 

It is evident from this that the Admiral was for once 
afraid of his steam, and moved under a very low pres- 



87 

sure. Banks shouUl liave known tliat sailors have 
treacherous memories, as well as nimble tongues, with 
which they so featly spin their yarns. He should, in 
all kindness, have taken a more charitable view of the 
Admiral's mistake, knowing, as every oflicer of the Navy 
(including the Marines) does, that ho would not know- 
ingly tell an untruth. 

Again, the indignant Banks says : 

" I feel it to be a soloiiin duty to say, in this official and 
formal manner, that Admiral Porter's published official state- 
ments relating to the Ked Kiver campaign are at variance with 
the truth, of which there are many thousand living witnesses, 
and do foul injustice [the italics are ours] to the officers and 
soldiers of the army, living and dead, to whom the Navy De- 
partment owes exclusively the honor and preservation of its 
fleet." 

.SLANDEROUS .STORIES — AN J) PICTURES. 

This is strong language, and should it chance to meet 
the eye of that future historian for whose guide the 
venerable Admiral promises to write his book, there is 
small doubt as to what category he will place the 
Admiral in as an authority. The question has been 
asked, " What was the Admiral doing these four long 
days ? " Malicious persons have answered it by charging 
that he was prospecting for cotton, with millions of prize 
money in perspective. There is no accounting for what 
malicious people will say in war times. That pictur(! of 
the Admiral, in all his gold embroidery and feathers, 
following close at the heels of the Army, with a marking 
pot and l)rush in his hand, and attaching the Navy's 
symbol to all the cotton and sugar captured by the army. 



and claiming it as subject of prize, was very likely an 
offspring of the same malicious source. Another ma- 
licious wit, disappointed because he was not permitted 
to go beyond our lines and steal cotton, drew a picture 
of the Admiral, twelve miles away from the river, driv- 
ing his own six-mule team, laden with cotton bales, and 
followed by a troop of mounted sailors, with that ancient 
weapon, the cutlass, drawn. We can, in all sincerity, 
assure our readers that that picture was a freak of the 
imagination and nothing more. The idea of Admiral 
Porter mounting his sailors is too absurd for thoughtful 
gonsideration. Of the same kind, and from the same 
soui'ce, came the story that our versatile and venerable 
Admiral had pocketed over a million of dollars of prize 
money made from cotton which really had been captured 
by the Army and belonged to the Government. 

As long as prize laws are on the statute books we do 
not object to any amount of prize money the Admiral 
may make legitimately ; but we would suggest that 
when the pursuit of it puts his fleet in peril, brings the 
honor of his Government in question, subjects his profes- 
sion to unfavorable criticism, and demoralizes his com- 
mand, the law of prize to any one branch of die service 
may safely be repealed. 

It has several times occurred to us while reading the 
accounts of that remarkable expedition on the Ked 
River, and more particularly the part our Navy took in 
it, that our venerable Admiral had been a careful reader 
of a book entitled " The Sailors of England under the 
Tudors," wherein the naval exploits of that lively old 
British mariner, Drake, are graphically described. 



-so 

The most liLsciujitiug part of that book is wlicre 
Drake's little aeeumulatiiig exploits along the " Spanish 
Main " are pictured. Drake's exj)loits on tlu' " Spanish 
.Main," and Porter's exploits on the Red River, arealike 
and unlike. Financially they arealike. IMorally, and 
politically they are unlike. Spain was at ])eace with 
England at that time ; and yet Drake, always taking 
the responsibility for tailnre or success, niade war on 
Spain's colonies. Porter made war on our own people, 
carried away their property, and whatever he failed in, 
wanted to shift the responsibility on some one else. 
Di'ake was true to his sovereign, and an admirer of 
kings and queens — queens especially. Porter, our 
venerable Admiral, was truly loyal, and a great Re- 
publican. Drake sailed into the monasteries, convents, 
and cathedrals, captured and carried off their sacred 
images, made of gold and silver, and had them smelted 
into money, and all in contempt of the law of nations. 
But Drake regarded as sacred the property of his own 
countrymen residing in the field of his depredations. 
In a word, he never made war on his own countrymen. 
It was to his credit, buchaneer as he was, that he pro- 
tected them wherever he found them. The most re- 
marka])le trait of his character was his intense love of 
his own countrymen, and his detestation of foreigners — ■ 
Spaniards particularly. If Admiral I'orter had any 
love, it was for himself alone. He was a great Re- 
publican, truly loyal, and, what is more, truly selfish. 
He made war, not on foreigners, but on Americans like 
himself, and he invaded their homes, and carried away 
their property, as if they had no rights he was bound te 

r2 



90 

respect. The bold Drake was a generous old salt who, 
having despoiled churches and monasteries and dis- 
])layed criminal contempt for the mother church, carried 
his plunder to England, and divided it with the good 
Elizabeth. That was the way he obtained forgiveness 
for his crimes, was received into the church militant, 
and took a high seat for himself and his descendants 
among the heroes of the realm. Our High Old Admiral 
took his Red River accumulations into the prize court, 
and we never heard of his sharing them with the good 
Lincoln, or any one else. 



91 



LETTER No.18. 

The great sensational ieature of the naval liistory of 
the Red River expedition was the number of tierce na- 
val engagements fought by Admiral Porter's fleet. Ac- 
cording to the Admiral, there was nothing in history to 
compare with them. The glowing accounts of them 
sent by the Admiral so astonished and delighted Grand- 
father AVelles that, for a time at least, he would have 
sworn by his beard that we had not only a fighting Navy, 
but an Admiral who knew how to fight it. He could 
not be mistaken, he thought, and yet it occurred to him 
one morning, after rubbing his spectacles and scanning 
over two or three, or perhaps a dozen, of the Admiral's 
glowing dispatches, that a stream of the character of 
the Red River would not afford room for a great naval 
engagement, and that a naval engagement between in- 
fantry on shore and iron-clads afloat could not be very 
bloody. In short, he very soon found that these des- 
perate naval engagements, when viewed in the light of 
truth, dwindled down into very harndess affairs — except 
to the people, whose cotton the Admiral had begun to 
accumulate. 

One of the fiercest of these naval engagements, so it 
is stated, was fought for two long hours, and in a thick 
fog. ^Nlarry, but when the fog lifted it was found that 
the fleet had been expending its valor and its ammuni- 
tion on a steep clay bluff, the summit of which was 
crowned with a clump of scraggy trees, which the Ad- 
miral had mistaken for the " enemy in force." The 



92 

Admiral also mistook the echo of his own gnus for the 
enemy's firing, and answered gun for gun. We do not 
vouch for the truth of this story, but give it for what it 
is worth, as Cerveutes did the story of Don Quixote's 
fight with the windmill, to which it bears some resem- 
blance. 

We remember to have seen a very sensible order is- 
sued by an officer in command of one of the Admiral's 
gunboats, deprecating the great waste of ammunition, 
and enjoining that hereafter the gunners must fire only 
when they saw the enemy. This very sensible order was 
not intended as a reflection on the Admiral, who was 
continually seeing the enemy in force, and engaging him 
in battle. On several occasions, however, it turned out 
that the " enemy in force " consisted of a few old men 
and boys, armed with rifles and shot guns, who had come 
to seek revenge of the Admiral for accumulating their 
cotton. Once the Admiral met a general " in force," 
(Green by name,) and in the combat shot his head oflT. 
It was in view of that remarkable event that he congrat- 
ulated his sailors on the fact that a headless general 
would be of no further use to the rebels. 

We will now put Captain R. R. Breeze, a very relia- 
ble witness, on the stand, and hear wdiat he has to say, 
under oath, in relation to our charge that the Red River 
expedition was essentially a cotton-stealing enterprise : 

■X- * * " The next morning tho wliole fleet proceeded up to 
Alexandria. On arriving there they [the fleet] seized a quan- 
tity of cotton, bagging, roping, and some sugar and molasses 
that was found in Confederate storehouses. There was a great 
deal of cotton found on the hanks of the river as we were 
going up, and a portion of that was seized by the gunboats." 



93 

Here wo gi-t at the secret of the dt-hiy referred to by 
P.ui.ks: 

" As we proceeded up tlie river, large qiuintities of cotton 
were found, which I was informed was marked ' C. S. A.' 
Tiiat was taken and put in some empty coal barges that we 
had with us, or rather some barges were discharged of their 
coal, and loaded with cotton." 

The captain might have added that it was sent up to 
Cairo as subject of prize to the Navy. 
He continues : 

" After our arrival, the Admiral received information from 
persons in Alexandria that there were quantities of cotton 
along the river at different points which was very accessible. 
Generally, and alwaj's, so far as I know, the information was 
that it belonged to the Confederate Government or to persons 
who were noted rebels — either themselves or the male members 
of their families in the rebel army. The Admiral sent vessels 
and secured all that lay along the banks of the river. * * * 
They took some mules from a Mrs. Wilson there. She loaned 
them to the Admiral, who promised to return them as soon as 
he got through with them, and did so — mules and horses. * * * 
T never went on any of these expeditions, but am quite sure 
none ever went over four miles." 

Banks says twelve. It was very kind of the Admiral 
to return to the poor woman her mules and horses, in- 
stead of making tliem subject of prize to the Navy. 

After saying that the Admiral, who had been up the 
river prospecting for cotton, again headed up the river, 
while lie, with the ilag shi}), wa.'^ ordered to head down, 
Captain Breeze proceeds : 

" Tliere was quite a number of speculators there. How they 
got there I do not know." He saw a great deal of cotton "being 



94 

brought in in sirmy wagons. * * * A number of them came 
to me and asked me if I would not seize their cotton in the 
name of the Navy. I told them I could not do it. They said 
they had 200 or 300 bales scattered about in different directions, 
and urged me to seize it in the name of the Navy, and let it 
be carried to Cairo, as prize cotton, and go before the courts. 
If they could prove their claim to it well and good ; if not, 
then the Navy would have it." 

Cotton was King, over that army at least. 

Que of these cotton speculators was a Mr. Sells, of St. 
Louis ; another was a Mr. Butler, where from not stated, 
very likely a relative of the redoubtable Ben. Then 
there was Yates, the truly loyal Governor of Illinois at 
one time. He came up on a steamer with a number of 
friends. 

" They had an order [Sells and Uutler had] from the Presi- 
dent directing all persons in authority, military or naval, to 
grant them all the facilities in going where they pleased, men- 
tioning particularly the Ked river, and about there. * * * 
(lovernor Yates' party had wanted to come uj) before General 
Banks had come up." 

There was something very original about this mode of 
carrying on a war. Captain Breeze continues : 

" These speculators said they could purchase cotton all about 
Alexandria, and they asked me if I would seize it after they 
had purchased, and claim it as prize to the Navy." 

A.n ingenious way of getting free transportation for 
their plunder, to say nothing of putting the Navy to 
such use. 

" In that way it would be got out of the clutches of General 
Banks, they said, and would be transported north to Cairo, go 
before the prize court of Illinois, [a somewhat soft court,] 
where they could present their claims of ownershij) and obtain 



95 

tlie cotton. The object of Governor Yates' party, as I under- 
stood it from those specuhitors, was to purchase cotton to pro- 
mote the interest of General Banks as tlio compromise candi- 
date for President. I heard tliis from a dozen different per- 
sons." 

With all due respect for Captaiu Bece/e's judgmeut, we 
must say that this story would be well enough to tell to 
the marines, but it is too absurd for serious considera- 
tion among sensible peo})]e. We have known General 
Banks too long to believe for a moment that he would 
lend himself to such a silly scheme. 

Sells and Butler were not the only cotton speculators. 
There was Casey & Co. and a Mr. Halliday, very likely 
a brother of Ben Halliday. We are not told whether 
this Casey is the famous brother-in-law of President 
Grant, and the political genius who has figured so ex- 
tensively in New Orleans ; but it is quite clear that 
Halliday was a particular friend of Admiral Porter and 
the Navy generally. As no great stealing enterprise can 
be skillfully manipulated without that modern invention, 
the ring, these speculators soon had two rings formed. 
There was the Sells ring and the Casey and Butler ring, 
to which Admiral Porter's particular friend Halliday 
was attached — in other words, there was a ring congenial 
to the Army and a ring congenial to the Navy, which 
kept an eye to windward when cotton bales were sighted. 

The first, if not the most important, business of these 
rings was the circulation of gross slanders, one aiming 
at the generals of the Army, the other at the officers of 
the Navy. Then they abused each other like drabs. The 
ring congenial to the Navy would accuse Banks and his 



96 

({uarteriuaster, Holubird, of stealing all the cotton found 
inland, and applying the proceeds to their own use. 
There were sensible persons innocent enough to believe 
those stories. Now it was the " Array ring's " turn, and 
Porter and his officers would be charged with making a 
clean steal of all the cotton they could lay their hands 
on, and claiming it as prize to the Navy. That was a 
very aggravating way of putting it. Singular as it may 
seem, newspapers, far away from the scene of plunder, 
took sides with these scamps. 

We are told that nothing demoralizes human na- 
ture so much as cupidity. Here we had convincing 
proof of it. Speaking of this man Sells, Captain Breeze 
says : 

" Sells was in opposition to overybody ; he was there just 
to get cotton ; he is one of those men who do not care how they 
get cotton, or over whose back they ride to get it. I suppose 
his object was just to get cotton." 

He was not alone in that ; and hadn't he and Butler 
and Halliday permits from the President to go in and 
buy cotton, if they could; but steal it if they must? 
Better men than Sells appear to have been moved 
by no higher motive in this cotton business. 

The captain tells us there was a clergyman who used 
to " ask me to take his cotton. He seemed to be thor- 
oughly posted up in the matter." Our short army ex- 
perience made us suspicious when we saw a cler- 
gyman's name associated with cotton, molasses, mules, 
or cattle of any kind, so many of our chaplains turned 
sutlers during the war ; and when they did, thoy were 
such thieves. 



97 

Some of these eotton speeuliitor.s had trusliNl in I'l'ov- 
idence and the henevok'iice oi' Admiral Portof, and com. 
phiined bitterly that neither had done the ^([uaro tliiug 
with them. Ivisten again to Captain Breeze: 

" Till'}' sail! it was very hard imlcod that Admiral Porter 
would grant jHTinits to fioma to go up, and iinf lo others. 
They talked so inucli about it, and read remarks in the news- 
papers, and things of that kind, that INI r. Hallidav, wlio was 
a friend of tln^ Admiral's, showed them this order. | (Jrder 
from the President.] That was the way it got onl tliat tliere 
was such an order in existence." 

It does not seem to have oceurred to these di.sappointed 
speeulators that Admiral Porter was human, and having 
taken care of himself first, must next take care of his 
friends. They indeed overlooked the fact that the Ad- 
miral was acting in obedience to the example set by our 
illustrious President, who not only takes care of all his 
friends, but all his family. 

" I heard nothing but cotton hardly for tin- lour months I 
was there. If tliis Mr. Sells would tell all he knew, he could 
tell the whole story of it.'' * * * " Tiiej^ were all pitch- 
ing into General Banks for the part he and his quartermaster 
had taken in the business, but I did not pay much attention to 
what they said, for tlusy were very unscrupulous men." 

Some of the officers of the army tell a very amusing 
story of how the Admiral got ahead of some very hun- 
gry speculators who had been casting longiug glances at 
2,'")00 bales of cotton ujt the Washita river. The Ad- 
miral sent one of his gunboats up that stream, and 
captured the cotton on his own account. 

1 ■■'> 



98 
EXCITING I^EWS AISOUT COI'TON. 

A KICII BONANZA DISCO V KIIK I). 

THE ADMIRAL TAKES P.EAHINGS. 

November 24th, 1863, Commander James A. CJreer 
reports to Admiral Porter : 

" I have the honor to inform you that tlie Forest Rose lias 
now returned to this district, and is now guarding from Grand 
Gulf to St. Joseph'.s. I have heen informed by the command- 
ing officer of the Pittsburg that a citizen told him of about 
12,000 [millions in it] bales of C. S. A. cotton within from 
twelve to twenty-five miles of Grand Gulf, in different lots." 

3Iore Cotton. — C'ommodore E. K. Owen reports to 
Admiral Porter, Febrmuy 16th, 1864 : 

" We have succeeded so far in gathering about 450 bales of 
cotton, of which eighty are in the gunboats and the rest on the 
transports. Fifty-three bales are all of the C. S. A. that we 
have captured ; though but very little, if any, is marked at 
all." 

LIST OF UKEAT NAVAL ENGA(4E.MENT8 ACCORDING TO 
ADMIRAL PORTEIl. 

That the reader may not be misled by anything we 
have said in previous letters, we give below an accurate 
and carefully prepared list of the "Great Naval En- 
gagements " fought by Admiral Porter's fleet on the 
lied and other river.^, together with the material result 
of each victoi-y. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 1 was fought some 
time in February, 1864. Admiral Porter reports to 
Mr. Welles, (26th :) 



'■ I iiu'losi^ you :i copy of a coiiiiminicalion from Liouti'iiaiit 
Commander Selfrodi!;i!, of the Conestoga, giving; an aecount of 
tlie gallant manner in which he landed 4') men, and captured 
a ([uantity of rebel cotton," Ac., «.K:c. 

Material result of victory No. 1 : No bloodslied. 
Tiiirty-two hales of cotton, (rebel,) twenty mules, two 
horses, six ohl waj^ons, and two shot-iriins. all suhjects of 
prize. 

Desp:M-ate Naval Engagement No. 2 must have been 
fought about IVIarcli )>d, and must have been closely and 
fiercely contested, for Commander Ramsey informs us 
of what he did, alter this fashion : 

"On our arrival at Uarrisonhurg I landed with the 
Wishita, and set lire to some of the largest houses in the 
town." [ ! ! ! 1 

He reports this to Admiral Porter, and seems to have 
regarded so barbarous an act as covering him with glory 
enough for one day. 

"While the houses were being tired a liody of cavalry and 
infantr}' was ^^aen coming up a ravine.'' * * * 

He made rapid time in getting al)oard his gunboat, 
and going to Trinity. The material result of this vic- 
tory we will give in Captain Ramsey's own words : 

" 1 remained at Trinity until tin; morning of the 4th, when 
we proceeded down Jilack river, and picking up all the cotton 
we could find near the banks, anchored twelve miles from the 
mouth." 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. o must have been 
fought .somewhere, but neither the date nor the locality 
is definitely fixed, wliich was a groat oversight in the 



100 

Admiral. Tlie victory was not fruitful of results, for 
the commander reports that he has shipped some very 
ragged contrabands, but regrets that he could find no 
cotton. That report must have sent the Admiral to bed 
feeling wretched. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 4 must have been 
fought somewhere " off Alexandria ; " but again we are 
at a loss for date and locality. That it was a very des- 
perate fight we can believe, for the Admiral himself had 
a hand in it, and covered himself all over with glory. 
He tells us in one of his illuminated despatches to 
Grandfather Welles : 

" The efforts of these peoidu [rebels] to keep up tliis war 
remiiitl one very much of the antics of Chinanu'ii, who build 
canvas forts, paint hideous dragons on their shields, turn som- 
ersaults, and yell in the face of their enemies, and then run 
away at the first sign of an engagement." 

Material result of the victory : 

"Seven prisoners of war and two hundred bales of cotton 
were captured." 

No mention is made of the number killed. We have 
since ascertained that this great naval battle must have 
been fought about March 12, 1864. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. ") is something that 
will take the reader off his feet, and make his hair stand- 
It Avas fought early in April — about the 14th. We are 
more particular about the results than we are of the 
day the battle was fought on. f^ays the Admiral, in the 
most solemn manner : 



101 

" Our opinions wore vorilicd on inspection of tlio bodies of 
tlio slain, tlio nion aL'tually sini'iiing of Jj(Hiisiaiia rum." 

Louisiana rum, miud yo"- We are very glad to 
know that the Admiral's sense of smell is keen enough 
to distinguish between a dead soldier full of Louisiana 
rum and a dead soldier full of Boston rum. It was 
very thoughtless of those rebels not to have taken in a 
supply of Boston rum or Chicago whiskey before being 
shot. 

" A dying rebel informed our nu'ti tbat (Jcneral (Jreen bad 
bis bead blotoji off, wbicb I do not vouch for as true.'' 

This is the headless general (rebel) referred to in a 
previous letter as being of no further use to the Confed- 
erate cause. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 6 was fought about 
the middle of April, with the following result in mater- 
ial victory : 

" Sent an expedition up tbe Wisbita, as far as Monroe, whicb 
captured 3,000 bales of Confederate cotton, brougbt away 800 
negroes, and destroyed mucb rebel property." 

Vide Admiral's report. That he put his trust in kind 
Providence and plenty of cotton, especially the latter, 
is shown by the next jiaragraph : 

" I have still confidence in a good Providence.'' 

So had Drake when he was carrying away the sacred 
images. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 7 must have been 
f'ouLrht early in May, for on the 8th of that mouth we 
liave a report of it from Lieutenant Commander George 



102 

P. Lord. The combat was doubtless very desperate, 
but there was no victory, the rebels getting decidedly 
the best of it. 

" M3- ammunition gave out, [says Commander Lord.] * 
* * I spiked the guns, had coals of fire strewn over the 
decks, and myself and executive officers (?) set fire to the cot- 
ton, which was on the guards alongside of the engines. I saw 
it burning finely before T left, and feel sure she [the Warner] 
was destroyed." 

So much for making cotton drogcrs of our ships of 
war and cotton pickers of our Navy officers. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 8 must have been 
fought about the middle of May, 1864, and, we regret 
to say it, the result of this combat was that our Admi- 
ral got soundly thrashed, and again lost his cotton. On 
the 16th of May he tells Grandfather Welles, in an in- 
tensely solemn dispatch : 

" I regret to inform you, among the misfortunes of this ex- 
pedition, of the loss of two light-draught gunboats, the Signal 
and Covington. I sent them down from Alexandria to convoy 
a quartermaster's boat loaded with cotton and some four hun- 
dred troops aboard." 

Yes, and the troops were sacrificed to the cotton. 
That was a very disgraceful affair, but we have no space 
for the details here. 

Desperate Naval Engagement No. 9 was fought some 
time in April. The intelligent reader will be able to 
appreciate the nature and extent of this engagement on 
reading a few extracts from a report of an investigation 
made by Commander R. Towusend, dated April 24th> 
1864. He writes concerning the loss of the Petrel : 



10;] 

" I am sorry the dark (.•loud presents no silver liiiintr. The 
investigation I have been able to make leads to the belief that 
a desire to procure cotton rather 'than the noble ambition of 
advancing the public service prompted the ill-fated expedi- 
tion." * * * -x- 

In regard to a telegraiu, received four days aftei- it 
was sent, Commauder Townsend says : 

" Did the cotton speculators delay it? Probably we shall 
never know ; but they are such unprincipled scoundrels that 
we may believe anj'thing shrewdly wicked regarding them." 

We have given enough of these desperate naval 
engagements to convince even a skeptical reader that 
our gallant Admiral covered himself all over with glory 
— and cotton — on the Red River. 



\ 



lUo 



LETTER No. 9. 



We next flighted our iimch-ailiuired Adiiiinil uu the 
coast of Fort Fisher. He was getting up a breeze all 
along that famous coast, and came booming i h.^ was al- 
ways booming^) down upon us under a marvelous press 
of canvas. He had his sky-scrapers and his moon-rakers, 
and his sky-sails set, his studding-sails out, every bow- 
line was taut, and not a sail was clewed. Then he 
took in all his light sails, run in his studding-sails (^stun. 
sails,^ clewed up his coursers, hauled his wind and braced 
up — and, well, what do you think he did, my innocent 
reader ? Why, he fired a broadside into a lumberly, old, 
worm-eaten frigate, named Ben Butler. That was wliat 
our breezy old admiral did ; and he congratulated him- 
self first, and (Trandfather Welles second, that ho had sent 
that worm-eaten old craft to the bottom of ti.j sea, there 
to remain until Gabriel blew his tout horn. But that 
lumberly old frigate had been sent to the bottom of the 
ocean such a number of times, and had invariably risen 
to the surface with all sail set, (and booming,) that we 
told the Admiral that we would wait, and watch the 
Avater for ripples. 

The Admiral, satisfied that we should never hear any 
more of the frigate Ben Butler, took in all his sail, heavy 
and light, came to a mooring, and invited us to come 
aboard and talk — well, what do you think? Politics. 

He did talk a good deal, and yet he did not sav pol- 
itics once. W^e will make oath of this. He did, how- 
ever, convince us that he was a great militarv, as well 
14 



106 

as a great nautical genius, and he did it in tliis way — 
but just here we must pause to say that the nation ought 
to feel itself deeply indebted to us for disclosing this 
great fact of the Admiral's military genius ; and here 
let us say also that we are going to make this so clear 
that no average Congressman will dare dispute it. 

The Admiral told us, on the quarter-deck, and in 
strict confidence, that he had for more than a year been 
devoting his gigantic intellect to the study of the art of 
fortification, and how forts could be " boarded and cap- 
tured by sailors, armed with the ancient and economical 
cutlass." He had made a scientific calculation, and had 
got the whole thing, the fort and the sailor, down to a 
fine point. We must, however, not whisper it to another 
soul, since those miserable newspaper men were in the 
habit of printing every word he said, and he might be 
charged with being a plagiarist, and that his plan of 
boarding and capturing forts with sailoi's was not en- 
tirely original. 

On the following morning thv Admiral made a devel- 
opment of his newly-discovered method of boarding and 
capturing a fort with sailors, armed with the ancient 
cutlass, well sharpened. Here is the order under which 
the thing was accomplished : 

" General Orc'er No. 81. 

" North Atlantic Squadron, 
" Flagship Malvern, January Mh, 1865. 
" Before going into action [very sen.sible advice] the com- 
mander of each vessel will detail a.s many of liis men as he can 
spare from the guns as a landing party. 

" That we mav have a share in the assault, when it takes 



plufc, tho boats will be kept ready lowen-d near tlie water on 
tho off [this is not nautical ; it sounds like ott' ox] side of the 
vessel. The sailors will bo armed with outlasses, well sharp- 
ened, [of course,] and with revolvers. When the signal is 
made to man the boats, tho men must get in, and stow them- 
selves away. [That is. Jack must ' la}' low and keep his cut- 
lass dry.] When the signal is made to assault, the boats will 
pull around the stern of the monitors, and land right abreast 
of them, [What then, Jack is ashore?] and board the fort on 
the run, [board the fort on the run is good,] in a seamanlike 
way. [Jack wouldn't do it any other way.] The marines 
will form in the rear, and cover the sailors. [That was what 
marines were made for.] Whih; tho soldiers are going over 
the parapets in front, the sailors will take the sea-face of Fort 
Fisher." 

That means that they must take it in flank, board it, 
and hold it, and all " with a will and a heave together," 
(the Admiral knows what this means,) and armed with 
the ancient cutlass, which is dear to every sailor's heart. 
The Admiral finishes up by saying: 

" We can land two thousand men from tho fleet, and not 
feel it. Two thousand active men from the fleet will carry the 
day." * * * * 

" (Signed) David D. Porter, 

" Rear Admiral, Coning North Atlantic Squadron." 

In another remarkable order, marked " Flagship 
Malvern, Jantiary 15th, 1865," the Admiral promulgates : 

" No move is to be made forward until the Army charges, 
[Jack is ashore now,] when the Navy is to assault the sea or 
southern face [a flank movement] of the work, going over the 
parapet with cutla.ss drawn and revolver in hand." 

Who will say after this tliat the Adinii-al does not 



J 08 

posses? military genius of" a very liigli order. The pic- 
ture of a sailor going over tliat parapet, cutlass and re- 
volver in hand, would be a sight so novel and. original 
as to be well worth the study of some of our painters. 

" The marines will follow after, and when they gain the (>clge 
of the parapet they will lie Hat on their hacks and pick otf the 
enemy in the work." 

Our acquaintance with the marines leads us to believe 
they would not do anything of the kind, 

" The sailors [same order] will charge at once on the field 
pieces in the fort and kill the gunners." 

That is positively shocking. 

* * * 11 jf^ when our men get into the fort, the enemy 
commence firing on Fort Fisher from the mound, every three 
(8) men [three against one is not fair] will seize a prisoner and 
pitch him over the walls [that is exactly the way a truly loyal 
sailor should treat an unthinking rebel gunner,] and then get 
behind the fort for protection — or into the bomb-proofs." 

Now, it occurs to us that before sending sailors, armed 
with the ancient cutlass, however well sharpened, to 
board a fort, the distance and character of the ground 
between the sailor and the fort should be the first things 
considered. If we are informed right, in this instance 
the distance between the fort and the shore (point as- 
sailed at by the Navy) was a little more than a mile, the 
ground being a soft sand. That being the case the sailors 
"would not Only have found it very laborious work to 
make headway over the sand, but would have been in 
no condition to "board a fort" and kill the gunners, or, 
no, pitch " them over the walls " when they reached 



lOil 

it. Did tlio Admii'al iiiclii<k' this in tlu' science of his 
cjilculatious ? 

We remember, at the outbreak of" the Criineau war, 
to liave diued with bluff old Admiral Sir Charles Na- 
pier one evening in company with onr Captain Glynn. 
We never heard a man talk more sensibly than Sir 
Charles did about the navy, and the i)olitical aspect of 
Europe. But we waked u\) next morning to find that 
Sir Charles had set all London laughing, and, not to be 
offensive, had made a fool of himself by publishing what 
was called his "Cutlass Order." Sir (yharles was not 
a blood-thirsty man, and yet he said to his sailors : 
'' Sharpen your cutlasses, lads ! " Sir Chax-les sailed for 
the North Sea, viewed and reviewed the granite walls 
of the forts at Constradt from a distance, and brought 
his "brave lads" home again, without even once giving 
them a chance to use their sharpened cutlasses. That 
" Cutlass Order " was the death of poor old Sir Charles, 
and yet, in its measure of absurditv, it was not to be 
compared with our Admiral's orders. 

Admiral Porter himself tells us, in tones of sadness, 
what was the result of his experiment in sending sailors, 
armed with the ancient cutlass, to board a well-manned 
fort : 

" We have lost some 200 killed and wdundcd, and among 
^hem some gallant officers." * '^ * " It is a matter ol" 
regret to me to see so many of my gallant officers and men so 
cut up [of course it was ;] but I was unwilling to let the troops 
undertake the capture of the forts without the Navy sharing 
with them the peril all were anxious to undergo." 

lu another place he tells us, complaiuingly : 

" About thirty of the sailors and officers succeeded in get- 



no 

ting to the very toji of the parapet, ainidst a murderous fire 
of grape, canister, and musketry. They liad planted the flag 
there, but were swept away in a moment. [Of course they 
were.] Others tried to get up the steep ^ pan cowpee.' The 
marines could have cleared the parapet by keeping up a steady 
fire, but they failed to do so, and the sailors were repulsed." 

Who ever heard of the marines failing in anything ? 
It is well enough, however, to make them responsible for 
this slaughter. We will not stand quietly by and hear 
the marines abused, for, in this case, the honest truth 
was the Admiral's new method of capturing a fort was 
not a success. 

There is only one of three conditions under which we 
can possibly imagine a fort boarded and taken accord- 
ing to Admiral Porter's method. If your fort were 
constructed according to the rules laid down by Profes- 
sor Mahan, the thing would be impossible. If built 
according to Todlebeu we don't see that the advantages 
would be in favor of either the sailor or the cutlass. A 
canvas fort, constructed strictly on the Chinese plan, 
armed with guns manufactured by Chinese, and defended 
by Chinese artillerymen, could and have been captured 
by both American and J*]uglish sailors armed with the 
ancient cutlass. This, however, with the aid of the ships 
in the offing. 

We, too, have a novel, if not entirely original, plan 
of boarding and capturing a fort with sailors and ma- 
rines, which we desire to submit to the Admiral, feeling 
certain that in his more serious moods he will admit it has 
advantages superior to his own. Here it is, unpatented : 

1st. See that your sailors and marines are well bal- 
lasted with duff". 



Ill 

2d. Prime with a nitiuu or two of grog, as a means 
of" gettiug them in first-chiss fighting trim. 

od. Get your saik)rs and marines aslioro, and in line 
on the beach without your enemy knowing it. Tiieu see 
that every man has his cutlass sharpened. The (][uarter- 
masters will keep a sharp lookout in the direction of 
the fort, and the boatswains will keq) up the necessary 
pijiing. 

4th. Having formed your line, with the marines on 
the right and left, and taken the exact bearings of the 
fort, mount your sailors, and be careful that the animals 
are not disposed to get stearnway on when headway is 
imperatively necessary. The marines, too, would im- 
]irove on mounting, if the horses were of a docile nature. 

•~)th. (leneral Sherman knows exactly how sailors and 
marines about to " board a fort " should be mounted, 
and any differences of opinion on that point may safely 
l)e hift to him to settle. Every sailor will carry a grind- 
stone in his pocket to sharpen his cutlass in case of 
emergency, and every marine will provide himself with 
tobacco enough to give his horse a ration on reaching 
the inside of the fort, should the animal recjuire stimu- 
lant. 

Gth. As sailors are not proverbial for their firm seat 
ill the saddle, and have a habit of lurching — mow a-port 
noKv a-starboard — that defect must be obviated by insert- 
ing a small ring-bolt in the saddle and a small hook in 
the transom part of the sailor's pantaloons, in that way 
forming a safety attachment between the sailor and the 
saddle. You can do so many things witli a hook, as our 
lute ( lovernor can bear testimony. 



112 

7tli. The mariues should curry their muskets across 
their shoulders, a-cock-bill. Kevolvers and spurs, accord- 
ing to our plan, are entirely dispensed with. 

8th. In mounting care should be taken that both sail- 
ors and marines, especially sailors, la(^e in the direction 
of the animal's head. 

9th. The line being Ibrnied, and everything ready, the 
following must be the order of command: First, Sailors 
and marines, attention ! Second. Eyes a-starboard ! 
Third. Mount and hook on ! Fourth. Elevate cutlasses 
and steady your horses! Fifth. Get your starboard 
tacks aboard ! Sixth. Go for the fort ! 

10th. Having got nicely under w^ay, they must bear 
down on the fort at a full gallop, care being taken to 
keep the marines well in line and see that the sailors do 
not back and till. The more cheering the better. 

11th. On rounding the redoubt the sailors may come 
suddenly to anchor and unhook, but they must flourish 

their cutlasses and keep up a d 1 of a cheering, that 

being necessary to thoroughly frighten your enemy. 

12th. The marines, having detached themselves from 
the sailors, must luif u]) into line, form by fours, and on 
reaching the parapet jump their animals clean over it^ 
and into the fort. Nothing known to the art of fortifi- 
cation could resist such a charge as that. 

The thoughtful reader will see, if he studies our plan 
attentively, how a fort can be taken and not a drop of 
blood shed. \V(! feel assured, also, that he will give us 
credit for the many advantages our plan has ov-'r Ad- 
miral Porter's. His was invented with murderous intent, 
ours solely in the int(M-ests of the economy of human 
life. 



LETTER No. 10, 

Did you ever, gentle reader, know of ii <;isc wliore 
tacts ])ut tiction to tlie blush ? We have oue in view 
just at this time. It is the very natural otfspriiiii' of our 
Admiral's last — and if not greatest, as some of his otficers 
claim, at least his most extraordinary — naval engage- 
ment. Wo ask the reader to be serious and give us his 
attention while we recount the history of this marvelous 
battle, which differs from one of Mayne Heed's whale 
stories iu this, that while Reed's stories are all story and 
not much whale, this is all whale and not much story. 

This battle, so peculiar in all its features, and of which 
no two men can be found to give a straight account, was 
fought in the narrow confines of the James river, near 
Richmond, which is in the dominion of Virginia. The 
combat was between the Admiral's fleet and the rebel 
ships Texas and Beaufort. Witnesses ditler in regard 
to the date of the battle, one saying it was on Sunday, 
2d, and another that it was on ^Fonday, the 3d of April, 
186-'). This may give our Admiral's future historian 
some trouble; but either date will answer our purpose. 
On the little matter of killed, wounded and prisoners, 
the Admiral is everywhere silent. Can it be that his 
prisoners were like Pope's, (General,) mostly on paper? 
And yet, if we may iKJcept sworn testimony as reliable, 
the firing was of nearly two hours' duration — very heavy, 
a great many persons must have been badly hurt, and a 
small ship-load of ammunition expended. 

The prize money part of this uuvrvolous naval engagc- 
15 



114 

ineut i.s now peuding iu a court of this District, before 
Judge Humphries, and awaiting adjudication. In truth, 
it has hung fii-e there for several years, if we are rightly 
informed, and is now shedding a bad odor over all con- 
cerned iu it. The great differences of opinion in regard 
to the value of these captures are what will impress the 
reader most. 

Here is what the Admiral says his prizes were worth 
to the captors, himself claiming the largest share : 
Texas aud Beaufort, So60,000 ; machinery, 

$300,000 ; lumber in them, $150,000 . . $8l0,0()() 
Commander Goringe puts his figures somewhat 
lower. — The Texas, $500,000 ; lumber, 
$125,000. The Beaufort, $100,000 . . . 725,000 
Commander Blake testifies that the whole con- 
cern is worth 3(30,000 

Prior to December 1st, 1865, B. P. Loyal, au 
officer of the Confederate Navy, who had 
superintended the building of the Texas, 
was a disinterested witness, and disposed to 
put as high au estimate on the vessels as he 
conscientiously could, estimates them at . 220,000 
Whose judgment is at fault, or what does this really 
mean? It might at first glance look as if some one was 
attempting au audacious swiudle on the Government. 
And we may add here that some of these prize cases 
have had a very suspicious look. ' The District Attor- 
ney, Mr. Wells, in his brief, makes some remarks we 
desire to call the reader's attention to : 

" Another circuiiistance, whicjli cannot escape observation," 
he says, " is the fact that no one of the witnesses, in the testi- 



iiiony alrc'iul}' rercrrcd tu uiKlorliilvCS In llx with ccrtiiinty tlio 
timo when the order was issued b^^ Admiral Porter, at City 
Point, for the movonient of the Fedisral Heet, nor the time 
when tile removal of the obstruetions began, or the time when 
the tiring commenced, or wlien the Confederate ships were 
blown uj). '' * * * 

Was the Admiriil booming again? Or did the ships 
lose their log books as well as the officers their memories ? 
Again Mr. Wells very pertinently says .■ 
"The great significance of those material omissions will be 
manifest when hereafter we come to examine testimony which 
establishes with great certainty and definiteness each of these 
material matters heretofore left indiMinite and uncertain ; and 
the peculiar misfortune of these omissions was that if these 
facts had been made known it would have appeared that the 
enemy's ships were actually blown up wliile tiie Federal fleet 
was laying at its anchorage ; and long before there was any 
firing, {! ! !) that as a matter of fact Richmond was evacuated 
before any Federal ships had passed the obstructions ; and 
that they were destroyed — not in conserpienceof the movement 
of our fleet, but as the iaevitable result <>f the evacuation 
of Richmond." '^' ■•' ■'' 

This is all very well, Mr. Wells ; but *lid'nt the Ad- 
miral hear the firing, know it was his fleet that was 
firing, although he eould not see it ? Did'ut he know, too, 
exactly how much ammunition his ships were expend- 
ing ? Having fought his naval engagement, and cap- 
tured nearly a million dollars worth of prize, it is only 
natural that he should stick to it. Again, the District 
Attorney Wells says : 

"The destruction of the Confederate Heet was determined 
on about midday of Sunday, April 2d, and was accomplished 
uOout midnight." [Such is the testimony.] "That Richmond 



IK) 

Wiis ev.iciiiitt'il iibout siiiirisf on April ;>d. In short tliut our 
Army had cajitured Richmond, and all that appertained to it, 
including the Beaufort and Texas two days before any capture 
by the fleet could have taken place, and that the only obstruc- 
tions removed from the James river by Admiral Porter \V(!re 
those placed there by himself." * * ''' 

Are we to infer from this tluit tlie Admiral has again 
been booming — that is, that he had set more sail than 
he could carry — and that Mr. Wells, in this very un- 
kind way, tells him he had better take some of it in ? 
Admiral Porter, we can tell Mr. Wells, is not the man 
to furl his sails under such circumstances. 

But, to tell the truth, that great naval engagement 
was all on paper. There was nobody hurt, no ammuni- 
tion wasted, and only a pound of priming powder used 
in all. The firing heard was the army firing a salute 
over the downfall of Richmond. That the Admiral 
sincerely believed there was a desperate naval engage- 
ment between his fleet and the Beaufort and Texas, wc 
can easily believe. His head was full of naval engage- 
ments just about that time ; and as an admirer of the 
Admiral and th(; way he sticks to a thing, we are not 
disposed to be too exacting. 

On the 2d of December, 1<S7'"), the captors took further 
testimony, and Mr. Wells very soon found that the 
Admiral, instead of taking sail in, was disposed to crowd 
more on — for he tells us : 

" Admiral Porter was re-examined, and testified * * * 
that the two ships mentioned were captured by the forces un- 
der his command, on the 2d of April, 1865 ; when they were 
taken possession of by men belonging to his squadron.'- 

" He says further that the two vessels were afloat, [make a 



117 

nolo of this,] iiinl tlif Texas had, ;is Ik; bolit^ved, proporly on 
board worth $o(U),(H)0, in addition to the vuhic of the vessel 
itself. She had, he says, on board, a large amount of iron 
plating, and munitions of war, and anchors and chains. 

" lie states, further, that the army was not within live or six 
miles of the river on either side, and could not, and did not 
take any i)art in capturing the vessel ; that it was strictly a 
naval cnterpris/;'.'' * * 

" The Admiral also said that the Texas, completed, would 
have been worth $1,500,000; and that the lumber, which he 
had before estimated at .$150,000, was worth $142,000, and in 
this particular the Admiral desired to correct his former depo- 
sition." 

The Adminil wants, to be generous, yon see. But 
here is where he i.s himself again: 

" The witness (Admiral I'orter) on this occasion explained 
that by his report to the Secretary of the Navy, of April 5th, 
1865, he did not mean to say that the army had anything to do 
with the attack on the enemy's fleet, or rendered him any 
assistance therein. ' It was purely a naval engagement alto- 
gether. That we were not operating in conjunction with the 
army at all.' " 

The hist sentence has the pure Porter ring in it. On 
occasions of this kind we can and do accept the Admi- 
ral's word that his fleet was not cordially co-operating 
with the army. Now, we are not dis{)osed to drop a 
single one of those desperate naval engagements out of 
the Admiral's long calender ; but in the face of such an 
overwhelming amount of testimony that there was not 
and could not have been a naval engagement (the Ad- 
miral calls it enterprise) at the time and place named, 
we don't see that we can be true to history without ask- 
ing the Admiral to dim that star. We repeat, we be- 



118 

lievi' he was siucere in cliiiiiiiiig it; aud to oblige him, 
we will admit that this great "naval euterj)rise," to 
which he holds with such tenacity of purpose, was 

TIIK (!OI'.MN Ol' A DISTURBED DREAM, 

which, haunting him through the night, he waked up in 
the morning to believe was a reality. This is the most 
cheerful way we can get over the difficulty, and it would 
be useless for us to say more on the matter, as it will be 
brought to the notice of Congress as soon as that delect- 
al)le body meets and be thoroughly investigated.* 

Aud now we have to deal with the material value of 
tliis great naval engagement (pardon us, enterprise) on 
the James, One of the things which will very forcibly 
impress the reader here is the rapid manner in which 
the shadow of the prize money, in dollars and cents, 
dwindles down into almost nothing, like the great battle 
itself. 

Captain Goriuge, in his improved testimony, says : 

" Tli(^ Beaufort was in ai)i)arently good order and fighting 
trim. Tlio Texas was moored to the bank, and near to a shed. " 

We beg the reader to make a careful note of this. 
A more harmless man-of-war than the Texas, tied 
quietly to that old wood-shed, never was seen, and, to 
tell the honest truth, she never had a gun mounted nor 
a boiler in. 



* Wo arc confidentially informed, on very good authority, 
that our very amiable and much peace-loving friend, Benjamin 
F. Butler, will have this and other remarkable prize cases 
brought before Congress as soon as it assembles ; and in that 
way Benjamin hopes to pay off an old score. 



119 

" She had her guns mounted and was apparently in tightini;- 
trim. * * * A boat's crew from one of the monitors that 
had been engaged in removing obstructions toolc possession." 

Here we have the capture positively asserted. It will 
be observed here that ( Joriuge has a good deal of canvas 
spread. Just here District Attorney Wells tells us how 
this bold commander swore, in the improved edition of 
his testimony : 

" The Montioelio was in advance, and kept in advance " 
[advance is good] " until we grounded on the bar at Eockets, 
two miles below Richmond." [Here again wo ask the intelli- 
gent reader to make a note.] "The army was operating in 
the vicinity of Petersburg." [Which we can assert of our 
own knowledge is false.] " There were no Federal soldiers or 
officers on or near these captured vessi'ls — the Texas and Beau- 
fort." 

This astonishes us. The Admiral should take his 
protege in charge, for in the line of ronuiuce he is get- 
ting ahead of him. The gushing Goriuge winds up in 
this laconic style : 

" There was on the Texas [Texas, remember] a large amount 
of lumber, and some on board the; Beaufort." 

The grammar of this may not pass muster, but the 
lumber is all right, unKss ( omnuuidor (loringe was not 
dreaming, but the philosophy comes in when Commander 
Goriuge, in defense of the honor of the Navy generally, 
and Admiral Porter particularly, having stated the 
value of the captui'e in logarithms, now sticks to them. 

Just here is where we want the intelligent reader to 
hold on by our coat tails, and give close attention to 
what follows. The Admiral's account of this marvelous 



120 

naval eugagemeut on the James, and the great vahie of 
our prize, so astonished and confused our Grandfather 
Welles that he did not know where trutli was to begin 
and falsehood end. After winking and blinking, strok- 
ing his gray beard, and pondering over the matter for 
an hour or two, he cut tiie Gordiau knot by pigeon-holing 
it, and leaving it as a legacy to his successor. 

To be brief, his successor did order a Board of Ap- 
praisement to examine and report on the case. This 
Board was composed of Naval Constructor Hanscom, 
Lieutenant Commander Owen, and Chief Engineer 
Long, all officers whose integrity no impartial man 
doubted. These gentlemen reported, after giving a full 
description of everything found, " that the machinery 
intended for the Texas was worth, at the very utmost, 
$36,000 ; and the hull, $52,220. That the Beaufort was 
not worth over $2,000 ;" and that no one knew of any 
lumber " anywhere about." They also testified " that the 
hull of the Beaufort, which had long since been aban. 
doued by the rebels," needed extensive repairs, and when 
these repairs were made, would probably bring $2,000. 

Here is a most extraordinary discrepancy, wliich we 
Avill let Admiral Porter clear up and explain. His 
logarithms, asserted as fixed facts, are : 

Original statement $810,000 

Lnproved and corrected 1,500,000 

Hanscom, Owen, and Long's valuation ; in all . !)1,220 
Discrepancy between the Admii-al and the 

Board of uninterested experts 719,000 

According to the Admiral's method of appraisement, 
this is a very small discrepancy, figuratively. 



121 

I It'll' is where Admiral J*ortei- finds himself con- 
fronted by Admiral Porter : 

" Another important paper put in evidence," ^ays Mr. 
Wells, " at the time was a report made by Admiral Porter 
to the Navy Department, dated April 5th, 186'), in which he 
says : ' As the movements have boon of a military character 
and have been regularly reported to the War Depaitment, I 
have not deemed it necessary to report.' " 

That was taking a sound eonimon sense view of the 
matter. Innocent people may ask why the Admiral did 
not stick to it ? It was in testimony that all the lumber 
captured about Richmond, if valued at $35 ^x'f thou- 
sand feet, would not amount to more than $7,000 ; that the 
Beaufort was an old, rejuvenated canal boat, that had 
been strengthened to carry one Brook gun, was abandoned 
by the rebels, and not worth more than $2,000. In 
short, she was — 

" Hauled out, upon the marine railway, at the Rockets 
near Richmond, and was in charge of a Federal lic.acnant and 
some soldiers, when two ofticors of a Federal ship, believed to 
be the Maumee, camcs ashore and made inquiries of the two 
Foxes, who were in charge of the marine railway, as to the 
ownership and condition of the Reaufort. They then took 
formal charge of her, directed repairs to be c(jmpleled, and 
agreed, when completed, to pay for the same, which was done. 
The amount paid was some small sum, less than one hundred 
dollars, and she was subsequently sent to Norfolk in the same 
condition as when she was launched." 

That was the way Admiral Porter's fleet captured the 
great rebel war ship Beaufort. 

As for the Texas — 

" 8he was intended for an iron-ehiil, and was built in Rich- 
mond. Her cctnstructor was a Mr. Meades. She was com- 

16 



122 

menci'd in the early part of 1804, and launched in November, 
of the same year. She was 180 feet long, 48 feet beam over 
all, and twelve feet deep." 

She was roughly built, and intended to carry four 
eight-inch Brook guns, but never did. Her constructor 
says she cost, " with the then exorbitant prices of ma- 
terial and labor, about $75,000. She could be built 
now for about half that amount." The only lumber 
she had on board " was put there for the purpose of set- 
ting fire to and destroying her, and was not worth more 
than $700." 

Further, the testimony goes to show that, " She was a 
mere hull, had no engines, machinery, equipments, guns, 
armament, anchors, plating, or any other equipment on 
board of her." In fact, she was nothing more than a 
barge, of strong construction. 

Finally, the Texas was taken to Norfolk, put into 
dry dock, repaired and coppered at a cost of about 
S'),000, and was sul)se(iuently sold for $3,200, and if we 
are informed right, was used as an ice-boat. 

And yet, in the face of the.se facts, which are indispu- 
table, the Auditor, (his name is not given in the testi- 
mony,) on the 8th of December, 187o, reported the 
value of the capture for adjudication, as follows: 

The Texas . . . .Sr,6f),666 ()6 

Iron plating, &c., (Sic. . 115,455 00 

Lumber . . . 150,000 00 

The Beaufort . . 00,000 00 



Total . . . $892,121 m 

Further comment is unnecessary, except that it would 
be interesting to know who the persons manipulating 
these prize (!laims are. 



123 



LETTER No. 11. 

All nations that have passed through great wars are 
afflicted more or less with costly encumbrances, naval 
and military, from which neither the fool-killer nor the 
retired list afford any relief. Indeed, whenever the 
former ofi'ers us hope, the latter steps in to perplex the 
mind and aggravate the evil. The reader must not con- 
strue this in a personal sense. The prodigalities of war are 
a scourge sent to punish nations for their crimes. The 
very worst feature of this scourge is felt in the vast num- 
ber of heartless and unscrupulous men war brings to the 
surface of public life, their haste to profit by the mis- 
fortunes of others, and to make patriotism and Christi- 
anity scape-goats for avarice. 

We admit that these reflections are not in accord with 
the general tenor of our w'ork ; but they were impressed 
on our mind some years ago, while reading the report 
of our unpleasantness with little Paraguay, and have 
remained there ever since. We have returned and re- 
turned to that report, and every time only to feel more 
sad and humiliated at the part our Navy performed in 
it. In short, w^e close the foul book w'onderiug if we 
shall ever have another Jack Tatual or Jim Glynn ; 
and yet Admiral Porter, in his testimony before the 
investigating committee, page 290, complacently tells us: 

" We look upon it that a Minister is sent abroad t" preserve 
peace, not make war, [that means we, the Navy,] and naval 
officers, having so much intercourse with the world, consider 
that they are perhaps [well put in] as well informed about 



V24 

dijilomalic iiiiilters as persons who have just nnterod upon Ihoir 
di])h>mivtic duties for tlie first time. Now, in England it is 
difi'erent. There persons are educated for the diplomatic pro- 
fession, and a British naval otlioer, in many cases, is put under 
the orders of the Minister.' 

There is a good deal of this " tacks aud sheets" sort of 
testimony given by Admiral Porter before the Commit- 
tee, which must have been highly instructive to the 
legal gentlemen composing it. The upshot of the Ad- 
miral's testimony, or rather his opinions — for he gave 
them in great profusion — was that we should be careful 
to select our ministers and cousuls from the Navy, and 
keep the politicians, scholars, and statesmen at home. 
Perhaps if we had jjut Grant at one end of the Admin- 
istration and Admiral Porter at the other, aud have left 
them to run the thing on joint account between the 
Army and Navy, the brains would not have been knocked 
out of the Republican party so soon. The plan is sug- 
gestive, however, and may be tried during the next cen- 
tury. 

Now, there is nothing the British Government is more 
careful of than in instructing her naval officers, especi- 
ally in cases where prompt action is necessary, to co-op- 
erate with and act in obedience to the advice or 
instructions of the Minister. A wider margin is given 
to the naval officer in his relations to consuls. This 
very Paraguayan misunderstanding affords two brilliant 
if not flattering examples of the kind of diplomats and 
consular agents, admirals and commodores of the great 
American navy would nuike. The first of these was 
that sturdy old salt and very fine gentleman. Admiral 



125 

Godon, for whose excellent qualification as a diplomat 
Admiral Porter vouches in the following manner: 

" His standiiii:; is very high as an officer — as an able man. 
He is a great talker (!) He is really one of the cleverest men 
in the JtTavy — I mean professionally, and in point of intelli- 
gence. He is also well read in the law." 

The Admiral should have told us in what kind of 
law this very accomi)lished old salt was versed. We 
have read or heard of men being first-class sailors among 
lawyers, and first-classs lawyers among sailors. It is 
not quite clear as to the Admiral's status as a lawyer. 
That he was a "great talker," indeed, could out-talk 
any man on his fleet, or on the east coast of South 
America, the testimony abundantly proves. And yet 
we have a suspicion that we must accept him as " a 
great talker" in the same sense in which we can accept 
Admiral Porter as a great writer. 

Admiral Godon, according to the testimony, was as 
full of fight as a centipede, and like Sir Lucius O'Trig- 
ger, w-as never so happy as when he was brewing quar- 
rels by the dozen. His first quarrel was with the subor- 
dinate line officers of his own squadron, which was as 
pretty a quarrel as we remember to have read of for a 
long time. The knowledge of epithets used, one against 
the other, must have been acquired from long experi- 
ence in the diplomatic corps. Tiiere was a Captain 
Crosby and a fleet surgeon, a gentleman well read in 
the natural sciences, who were always measuring lances, 
or rather cutlasses, with the Admiral. And it was no 
uncommon thing for one to refer to the other as the son of a 
female dog, or a d — d scoundrel ; while the other retorted 



126 

hy saying the Admiral was an idiot, whose proper place 
. was a mad-house. We put it in this mild way to oblige 
all parties. The doctor's quarrel with the Admiral had 
a number of amusing features in it. One of these was 
the result of the Admiral throwing the doctor's pills 
into the sea, following them with sundry contemptuous 
remarks, and absolutely refusing to take his physic. The 
doctor, innocent man, only wanted to physic the Admi- 
ral into a better condition of mind. And while this 
quarrel between this fine old Admiral and his subordi- 
nate line officers was progressing as well as could be 
desired, one of a much more alarming character broke 
out between the line and staff. We may also add that 
the Adiniral, to use his own words, was always seeing 
" breakers ahead," and was always making breakers. 

As if to illustrate the extent of his accomplishments 
and sustain the good character as a diplomatist well 
read in the law', given him by Admiral Porter, he en- 
gaged in a quarrel with our Minister, James AVatson 
Webb, who he used to call, in the presence of his officers, 
a venerable old wind bag and played-out politician. 
Ilere is a specimen of his diplomatic style in speaking 
of JMinister Webb : 

" General Webb wrote in my cabin a letter to Mr. Wash- 
burn. It was a very long letter." [General Webb never 
wrote a short one.] " It was a very offensive letter. I men- 
tion it especially because Mr. Washburn has stated that I did 
not answer his letter, but allowed General Webb to answer it 
for me. God help tlie mark, at mj' time of life, with my edu- 
cation and my experience, and, I will saj^, with my vanity, 
[there is where all the trouble comes in] that I should have got 
General AVebb to answer a letter which I had received !" (p. 74.) 



127 

Our readers cannot fail to be deeply impressed with 
the delicate and peculiarly diplomatic character of the 
language used in the last sentence of the above para- 
graph. This of itself would be sufficient to establisli 
the Admiral's claims to a first-class mission abroad. 

Finally this testy old salt rolled himself up in the 
American flag, proclaimed himself the United States, 
and proceeded to make war on all the American min- 
isters and consuls on his station. He would have enjoyed 
hanging Washburn at the yard-arm. He did not care 

a d n for Bliss and Marsterman, one an American 

and the other a British subject under American protec- 
tion, who were held as prisoners and tortured by the 
tyrant Lopez. In short, he believed they Avere scoundrels, 
in Paraguay for no good purpose ; and as they did not 
get there through any agency of his they might stay 
there. As for Minister Washburn he believed he was 
a great rascal, a played-out politician, and, like all other 
ministers, only represented a corrupt political party 
while he, the Admiral, represented the whole United 
States. Calling our ministers these very bad names, at 
his dinner table and in the presence of liis officers, was 
a way the Admiral had of illustrating his fitness for 
diplomatic duties. 

He as good as told JNIinister Washburn he could go to 
a place rather warmer than was desirable at that season 
of the year, and he would go to St. Catharines, enjoy 
himself, and stay until coals got chea]). It grieves us 
to say that on another occasion, as set forth in the testi- 
mony, this testy old salt, with all the accomplishments 
necessary to a diplomat of the higher orders, ( I'ule 



128 

Porter,) said JNliuister Washburn was a son of a female 
dog — we put it in that way to oblige the Admiral — 
and this, too, at his own table, and in the presence of 
his officers. In truth, the Admiral and some of his of- 
ficers seem to have regarded witli entire indifi'erence the 
fact that a gross insult had been ofi'ered to their country 
or that countrymen of theirs were suffering imprison- 
ment and torture at the hands of a petty tyrant. Their 
sympathies, if they had any, were with the cruel Lopez, 
as the sympathies of Mr. Washburn's successor seem to 
to have been with his strumpet, Mrs. Lynch. 

This Admiral, so well read in the law, finally set up 
for a judge, and claimed the right to decide what kind 
of a minister he would confer with and respect. 

" Now, (p. 85,) if Mr. A.darD.s, or any man like him, should 
as a minister, make a request of me, I should probably [prob- 
ably?] act upcm it, but unfortunately all our ministers are not 
like Mr. Adams."' 

Mr. Adams ought to feel grateful for this high com- 
pliment. 

Satisfied that the Admiral had served his country 
abroad quite long enough, he was told he could come 
home and enjoy the remainder of his days in retire- 
ment, or in reading all the great authorities on diplo- 
macy. 

His successor, a gentleman of more judgment and 
practical sense, sadly failed in the performance of his 
duty, and also failed to distinguish between his own 
opinions and the law of nations. That crudest of mod- 
ern tyrants, Lopez, seems to have charmed him at first 
sight, as he subsequently charmed Minister Mc]\[alioii. 



129 

After writing- a very projier and very manly letter, de- 
manding the })ri?oners, Bliss and ]\Iarsterman, ]\o with- 
di-e\v it after "a talk" with Lopez, and wr()t(^ another, 
whieli had the earmarks of a gentle request, and was 
not ealeulated to wound the delieate sensibilities of His 
jNIajesty, as if sueh a monster as Lopez had any sensi- 
bilities. 

Lopez gave the prisoners up, deelaring them to be 
scoundrels and dangerous men. And because he did so 
the Admiral and his line officers took it for granted that 
they must treat them as such. Not only were these men 
received on board the ship as prisoners, and held as 
j)risoners, but they were treated as criminals, and made 
to submit to indignities we shall not name heie. And 
all this, it grieves us to say, at the hands of oHicers of 
the American Navy^ who should be prompt to sympa- 
thize with their countrymen in distress. Even the tat- 
tered garments of the px'isouers were alluded to in terms 
of derision — and all to please the wretched tyrant Lo- 
pez. Indeed, the only kindness they received while on 
board was from Surgeon Duvall and one or two other 
staff officers. Thedoctor tells us in his testimony that — 

" Crtptaiii Woolsey canio out of his cubin and told the execu- 
tive officer to send these men, Bliss and Marsterman, ofl" the 
(|uarter deck into the jiort gangwa}', a greater indignity than 
which cannot be oflered to any man on board a man-of-war," 
(n. 107.) 

Comnumder Ramsey would evidently make a first- 
class diplomatist as well as a nautical missionary, for he 
tells us, on page 179 : 

17 



130 

" 1 remember most distinctly that I suEjgestcd to Admiral 
Davis that the request of President Lopez could only be carried 
out by keeping them under sentinel's charge. President Lopez 
expresslj' asked that they should not be allowed to commu- 
nicate with his enemies." 

How tenderly the CommautU!r touches the tyraut. 



:}1 



LETTER No. 12. 

AVc must wiud ii|) tlu'sc yams with iiu account of a 
rare old British Mariner, "■ Captain John Stai-button, 
of tlie Leather Bottle," (Iravesend, p]ngland. 

Meeting the genial Washington Irving, in this city, 
in the winter of 1852-o, we told him we were about to 
make a visit to, and perhaps spend a year or two in 
England. He invited us to come and see him at his 
rooms, where he was arranging souk; newly ac(juired 
material for his life of Washington. With that kind- 
ness of heart, for which he was famous, he gave us two 
letters, one to the popular publisher, John Murray, and 
the other to a country gentleman, whose attentions we 
never shall forget. He also gave us a list of many 
places famous in history and literature, he said it would 
interest us to visit. Then taking the list back, he added 
to it, drop down to (irravesend, and visit the famous old 
"Leather Bottle Tavern." It was a model English inn, 
he said, somewhat nautical in its surroundings, and a 
resort for quaint old navy officers, who would afford 
us a subject of study. 

We had been nearly six months in England, and had 
almost forgotten the Leather Bottle, when a literary 
friend drop})ed in on us one evening, and the circum- 
stance was alluded to. He very soon proved to us that 
he was familiar with that old hostlery, its associa- 
tions, and many of its visitors, and proposed to accom- 
pany us whenever it would be agreeable to make the 
visit. Well, we took the Gravesend steamer one bright 



132 

luoniing-, (bright for :i TjoihIoii morning,) and reached 
the Leather Bottle with the sun at noon. There was 
something so cosy about the ohi two-story inn. Ivy 
crept in thick chisters on the walls, and gathered in 
loving festoons over the gables and porch. Little beds 
of flowers dotted a neatly kept front yard, a graveled 
walk led up to the front door, and on an old sign above 
was inscribed " The Leather Bottle." Mine host, a 
burly man, in a blue coat and flashy vest, met us at the 
door, and after giving us a hearty sailor-like welcome, 
bowed us into what he called the front paidor. Numerous 
naval and military relics and curiosities hung here and 
there ; and mine host, who had been a warrant officer 
in the uavy, showed us a sword worn by one of Nel- 
son's lieutenants, at the battle of Trafalgar. 

Mine host left us, and sent Margery, a bright blue- 
eyed, and flaxen-haired waiting girl, to see if there was 
anything in the Leather Bottle she could serve us with. 
There was an air of good cheer and man-of-war neatness 
about the place. "Ah!" said the girl, looking out of 
the window, as she waited for onr order, " here comes 
your friend, Captain .Starbiittou. Maybe you will wait 
for him, gentlemen I " This was addressed to my friend, 
INIr. Low, who answered in the aflirmative. "He's such 
a good old man when he is isn't in a bad temper. Its 
as how the winds blows w'ilh him." 

There he came, a man of middle size, wrapped in a 
stout pea jacket, and tight-litting blue trowsers, a loosely 
turned-down shirt collar, tied with a black silk handker- 
chief, the ends of which fluttered over his breast. He 
also wore a navy cap, witii a narrow gold band, and his 



133 

eyes were shii'lded with ^-oggle-s. He adviiuced u]) the 
path ill a feehh% haU'-lialtin^- .step, a cane in one hand, 
and tlie other thrust into the breast ol' his coat, and 
made three stops before he reached the porch, looking 
up each time, as if studying the weatlier. 

>rine liost advanced to meet him and exchange sahites 
on the porcli, as was his custom, and as he did so the 
ohl captain came to a lialt, raised his cane, and cried 
out : " A, ho ! A, lio ! Pi})e all hands to quarters and 
clear the decks for action when you see me coming." 
After exchanging some badinage with the bar-maid, he 
entered the parlor, and, glancing at Margery from head 
to foot, he exclaimed : " Royals set and pennants flying, 
eh, ^fargcry ?" and he tapped her playfully under the 
chin. 

'• Here is these gentlemen waitin. What will th(;y 
think?" she .said, reproachfully. Just then he recog- 
nized us, and, tossing his cap and cane on a settee, ap- 
proached my friend with his hand extended and gave 
him such a warm greeting: " You are welcome to the 
Leather Bottle, gentlemeu. Yes, you are twice welcome 
to the Leather Bottle — the only ship I have any com- 
mand of now." 

Our friend now introduced us as a gentleman from 
the United .States of America. " From the United 
.States of America ? From the United States of America ?' ' 
he inquired, enthusiastically. " Then here's old Jack 
Starlnittou's hand, and its a hand with a heart in it. 
I'm a poor old weather-worn, badly paid, and nuich 
al)used sailor ; have .seen thirty-live years' sea service, 



and get no thanks." And he shook our hand with 
great warmth of manner. 

" You've got a glorious country and should be proud 
of it. Yes, sir ;' proud of it. Cheap Government, mag- 
nificent Navy, and no established church. D n me, 

sir, I've been there, and know you have no established 
church, but a nuignifita^nt Navy, and officers who know 
how to fight in it." lEere he attempted to relieve liis 
eyes of the goggles, but liis wig came off at the same 
time, disclosing a head as bright, round, and bald as a 
billiard ball. He replaced the wig with the quickness 
of a boy and went to the glass to see that every bor- 
rowed lock was in its place. 

" Now, Margery," he resumed, " clear the decks, 
Sherry first, sherry, mind you ; then a lunch, such as 
the Leather Bottle can serve." Margery disappeared 
and soon returned with the sherry, when the old nuin 
drew his chair up to the table and filling our glasses, 
resumed : " Now, gentlemen, we will drink to the United 
States of America ; a country with so many blessings 
that not one half the people appreciate them ; a country 
tliat is l)lesscd with a cheap Government, a magnificent 
Navy, and no established church." 

We were somewhat surprised to hear him speak in such 
glowing terms of our Navy and suggested that England^ 
too, had a powerful navy. 

" Mistake, sir ; mistake, sir. England had a navy 
once, a great and glorious navy. That was when her 
wooden walls and her canvas was her power, and sea- 
manship was worth something. To-day England's navy 
has gone to the dogs. Its sad to think of it, its sad to 



l:]5 

thinU of it." And hv shook his iicad sorrowl'iiliy, his 
voice thickeiK'd, and lu' \vi{)od away thr tear that was 
glistening in his cyi's. 

" AVell, well/" he resumed, " we nuiv as well cheer tin 
take another drop ol' sherry, and fbiget the JJritish 
navy's past greatness. The first great nii.stake England 
made was in introducing steam instead of sails. Fatal 
mistake, sir ; fatal mistake. A man-y-war, sir, with a 
small hell in one end of her lower hold and a cauldron 
or boiler of scalding hot water in the other is not the 
thing. You put a worse enemy in your own ship than 
the enemy you are sent to fight against. Bad enough, 
sir, to be shot to death standing up and fighting the 
enemy like a man, broadside to broadside, and yard-arm 
to yard-arm. That's the way Nelson and Marlborough 
used to take their enemies. Think of Nelson orColling- 
wood on board- a man-a-war on wheels, and in danger of 
being scalded to death at the first 'fire! Nelson would 
a sailed into hell if he'd got bows headed that way; but 
he did'nt want no hell aboard his own ship. No sense 
whatever iu the thing, and I have been twelve yeais 
trying to get this into the heads of the Lords of the Ad- 
miralty. God help us, its like trying to get sense into 
a stone wall." 

He paused for a minute, invited us to take another 
turn at the sherry. We had met bluff and farmer-like 
Sir Charles Napier, and we had listened for hours to 
the lean but courtly Dundonald, while he recounted his 
grievances, but we had never met anything like Caj)tain 
Jack Starbutton, in the Avay of an old salt. 

" Then you see," he resumed, " we are building iioii 



130 

instead of wooden Avails, and making them so thick and 
heavy that a ship's got all she can do io float under 

them. D me, sir, this fighting behind iron walls 

is'nt the thing. How would Nelson have looked boxed 
uj) in an iron chest V Why,sir, he would have sent such 
iron and boiling water contrivances to the devil — that's 
what he would have done. And he would have told 
the Board of Adminilty to follow' them, too. England's 
Navy has gone to the (h)gs, sir — gone to the dogs. Not 
worth mentioning, a thing of the past" — and again his 
voice thickened, and his eyes filled with tears — " makes 
nie feel bad whenever I talk about it," he muttered. 

Here my friend interposed by saying, in a compli- 
mentary way that the cajitain had devoted a great num- 
ber of years too, and had })erfected a plan for reform- 
ing and putting tin; P)ritish Navy ou first-class fighting 
footing. 

This relieved the old s;iilor's feelings, and he at once 
brightened up again. " Yes, sir ; " he resumed, " I've, as 
our friend says, devoted the best years of my life to 
that plan, and it points out the only way to reform the 
British Navy." 

We asked him why he did not get the Admiralty to 
adopt it. " Tried to do that for fourteen long years — 
didn't succeed. That Board of Admiralty, sir, is wooden- 
headed. On my word as a sailor, there's more dry-rot 
in that Board of Adnnralty than there is in a dozen old 
hulks. The old codgers are all toothless, and not one 
of them's a year under seventy-four. ' Here's my man,' 
says I, when Sir James Graham w'as made First Lord 
of the Admiralty. ' Captain, I'll do what I can for 



voii/ lio says. ' Tluiiik your honor,' says I, and he 
orderod me a hearing, after (ourteen long year.-, before 
the Board of Admiralty." 

" Did you go?" we iutiuired. 

"Go? eh gad, I did! And what do you tliink the 
toothh'.ss old codgers did? They said 1 must read from 
the manuscript, and then went fast asleep before i had 
got over a hundred pages.'" 

" Did you leave them asleep?" we interrupted. 

''Eh gad, I did that. And I bowed myself out, and 
have had uothing more to do with the lioard of Ad- 
miralty." 

In reply to our (juestion lie told us his plan eovered 
fourteen hundred and seventy-eight pages of closely 
written manuscript, and if we woulil make him a visit 
at his snuggery, as he called it, which was not a stone's 
throw from the " Leather Bottle," he would rea<l it to 
us. We pleaded want of time ; but promised to make 
him another visit, and enjoy the treat. Captain Jack 
Starbutton was more than a match for our Admiral in 
the u.se of paper. What his plan of reforming and 
putting the great British Navy on a first-class fighting 
footing was we never knew. There was something so 
warm hearted about the old sailor that we forgot his eccen- 
tricities, and enjoyed his company. He had served, he 
told us, many years on the Korth American station, 
now in command of Her Majesty's sloop-of-w'ar Race- 
Horse ; now on the Hussar, forty-four ; and again on the 
Winchester, fifty gun ship. 

18 



13cS 

And uow, to the end that the beginniug aud the end- 
ing of so illustrious an administration as General Grant's 
should be in perfect harmony we propose that the jolly 
Robeson retire to the shades of New Jersey, with a 
certificate of good character in his pocket, and that 
Mr. A. G. Cattell be appointed his successor, with an 
agreement that he and our Admiral run the Navy on 
joiut account, and in a lively way. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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